Corebridge Financial is an American multinational

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companie ...

company. It provides annuities,

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...

, retirement solutions, and other services. Corebridge was formed after AIG performed a spin-off on the company via an IPO in 2022.

History

Corebridge Financial's current structure is a result of AIG spinning off the company in 2022. American General (AG) was the historical predecessor to Corebridge's assets during AG's time as a subsidiary of AIG.

Early History

The American General Insurance Company was formed on May 8, 1926 by

Gus Sessions Wortham Gus Sessions Wortham (February 18, 1891 – September 1, 1976), was a businessman and civic leader in Houston, Texas. Biography He was born on February 18, 1891, in Mexia, Texas, to John Lee Wortham and Fannie Sessions. He moved with his father ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Wortham worked for the Texas Fire Rating Board in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

before moving to Houston in 1912. Before starting American General, he worked at his father's insurance company, ''John L. Wortham & Son Agency'', until his death in 1924. Following his father's death, Wortham began the company in response to a Texas Commissions of Appeal that ruled that insurance companies may merge several lines of business. In 1953, American General hired life insurance veteran

Benjamin N. Woodson Benjamin N. "Woody" Woodson (June 5, 1908–July 17, 2001), born in Altoona, Kansas, was an insurance executive and philanthropist who was known as "Mr. Life Insurance."

as president. Woodson previously served at Mutual Trust Life Insurance Company, the National Association of Life Underwriters, and various other roles. Woodson would eventually succeed Wortham as CEO of the company in 1972 where he remained until retiring in 1978.Benjamin N. Woodson titles
from Worldcat

NLT Corporation

The NLT Corporation was formed in 1900 as the ''National Stick and Accident Association''. The

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

company became one of the country's largest life insurance companies and paved the way for the merger. American General announced a

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...

bid for NLT. NLT made a counter-offer to buy out AGC. In 1982 AGC, which had owned Nashville rival L&C since the 1960s, prevailed. Having acquired NLT, AGC merged the former rivals over the next decade and spun off the "non-core" assets of NLT, particularly its entertainment properties. ''The Grand Ole Opry,'' Opryland theme park, WSM and fledgling cable television network The Nashville Network (TNN) were sold to what became Gaylord Entertainment Company and later on,

ViacomCBS Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. It w ...

. American General would later merge into New York-based

American International Group American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...

(AIG). Its division of the corporation retained the American General brand.

AIG Merger

In 2001, it was announced that American General would be getting acquired by

Prudential plc Prudential plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working people. Prudential has dual primary listings on the London Stock E ...

in a deal worth $26.6 billion. The deal was later called off after negative Prudential shareholder reaction. After the deal failed to go through, AIG announced plans to acquire American General for $23 billion in stock. American General would continue to operate under AIG as their life insurance and retirement services subsidiary. In 2003, Old Line Life Insurance merged with American General.

IPO and Spinoff from AIG

Corebridge was formed as a result of a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

of AIG's retirement, life insurance, and wealth management segments. In 2020, AIG announced plans to perform the spin-off with a 2022 IPO. In July 2021, the company announced that

Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate ...

would acquire 9.9% of the new unit for $2.2 billion cash. Blackstone and AIG also entered a long-term asset management agreement for about one quarter of AIG's life and retirement portfolio, set to increase in subsequent years.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.corebridgefinancial.com Financial services companies of the United States American International Group American companies established in 2022 Insurance companies based in Texas Companies based in Houston