Cassano has been dubbed "patient zero" of
the global economic meltdown. He ran the AIG team that sold credit default swaps
in London that led the company into bankruptcy and a massive bailout.
Democratic senator John Sarbanes said Cassano "single-handedly brought AIG
to its knees".
After the bailout Cassano refused all media
interviews and had not spoken about the crisis until he was called before the
US congress financial crisis inquiry commission in July 2010. "I think
there would have been few, if any, realised losses on the CDS contracts had
they not been unwound in the bailout," he said, adding: "my perspective
diverges in important ways from the popular wisdom".
Cassano, who used to live in an opulent townhouse
behind Harrods, has since moved back to Westport, on Long Island Sound, where
he is apparently unemployed, and uncontactable.
