by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Yesterday many structured settlement brokers and settlement planners were informed in an oddly worded emailed statement, containing a memo from David W. O' Leary the President and CEO of the Specialty Markets Group at AIG/American General Structured Settlements, that there was a "change in leadership" tossed in with a thank you for your business and blurb on software. While change is a fact of life, there were no platitudes about the accomplishments of the long serving JP Steele, his efforts on the part of the structured settlement industry while NSSTA President, or the standard "we wish him well" that typically follows such an announcement. It was "short and bittersweet".
This morning it has come to my attention that one factoring company blogger has coldly posted in its gossip column "JP Steele was fired by AIG" through what likely had to have been a third hand source. I doubt the blogger spoke to JP Steele or David W. O'Leary. I have since received calls and emails concerning the bad taste of that posting. In a previous reporting about Randy Dyer, the same blogger reported that his "employment with the NSSTA has ended". Randy Dyer is of course still engaged. What relevance does the employment status of JP Steele mean to a factoring company?
Before people start dancing on this guy's grave, and regardless of details that may or may not later emerge, what the blogger failed to state is that the change in leadership meant one brother replacing another brother and of course the timing of the change occurring during the Christmas holiday season. JP Steele has a family and children, as does the blogger in question.
Added December 13, 2007 The blogger has now edited the statement to read "JP Steele has been replaced by his brother Bobby". In a response to this post the blogger published a response admitted to receiving an email from a structured settlement broker and posting the information without checking the facts. Those of us who worked with JP in a positive way over the past 10-15 or more years might want to know who the insensitive cretin was who wrote the email to that blogger in the first place. One can surmise that there's a 90% chance they're on the structured settlement factoring vig.
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