OBITUARIES / PASSINGS / Ernest Stempel
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Ernest Stempel, 92, a former vice chairman of American International Group Inc. and a self-made billionaire, died Monday after suffering a heart attack in Cape Town, South Africa, while visiting with his wife’s family, said his New York-based attorney, Henry Christensen.
Stempel, who lived in Bermuda, had a personal fortune estimated at $1.3 billion as of last year, according to Fortune magazine.
Born May 10, 1916, in New York City, Stempel joined the organization that became AIG in 1938, working as a clerk while attending Fordham Law School at night.
After serving in the Navy during World War II, he was sent to Bermuda in 1953 and oversaw the American International Reinsurance Co.’s rapid growth in the British Atlantic territory. A vice chairman of the company starting in 1968, Stempel also developed operations in the Philippines.
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