ACE IN THE HOLE

摘要

Last Summer upstart ace ENGINEERED one of the largest insurance takeovers in history, agreeing to acquire venerable Chubb Corp. for more than $28 billion. A few weeks after the deal was announced, ACE chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg was in Warren, New Jersey, standing in the four-story atrium lobby at Chubb's headquarters, looking up at unsmiling employees who leaned over the railings to hear from their newboss. "This is like giving a speech in the Roman Colosseum," the sinewy, shaven-skulled, 60-year-old executive told his audience. "I hope there's no lions and that you don't choose to throw anything at me." Nervous giggles cascaded down. Greenberg then enumerated the many synergies and lucrative future he foresaw forthe merged company, which he pointed out would be named Chubb, not ACE. "I don't know any other way to show respect to somebody to begin with than to say we're going to take your name," said the insurance industry's reigning superstar. Months later, back at his midtown Manhattan headquarters, 45 stories above the theater district, Greenberg sounds less self-effacing. "We're still ACE," he tells Institutional Investorin a two-hour interview that displays his passion, brashness and edgy humor. "We will be ACE in Chubb clothing," he quips.