Cornelius Van der Starr also known as Neil Starr or CV Starr (October 15, 1892 – December 20, 1968) was an American businessman and Office of Strategic Services operative who founded the American International Group (AIG) insurance corporation and a major philanthropic foundation.
Starr was born in Chicago, Illinois with the name Neil Starr, where his Dutch father was a railroad engineer. He began his first business, selling ice cream, at the age...
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Cornelius Van der Starr also known as Neil Starr or CV Starr (October 15, 1892 – December 20, 1968) was an American businessman and Office of Strategic Services operative who founded the American International Group (AIG) insurance corporation and a major philanthropic foundation.
Starr was born in Chicago, Illinois with the name Neil Starr, where his Dutch father was a railroad engineer. He began his first business, selling ice cream, at the age of nineteen.
He joined the U.S. Army in 1918 but was not sent overseas. Instead, he joined the Pacific Mail Steamship Company as a clerk in Yokohama, Japan. Later that year, he traveled to Shanghai where he worked for several insurance businesses.
In 1919 he founded AIG in Shanghai, then known as "American Asiatic Underwriters" (later "American International Underwriters"). His first employee, and office boy, was Sir Edwin Manton, who eventually became Chairman of A.I.U. and Executive Vice-President of AIG. Eventually, he hired Maurice "Hank"...
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