Former AmEx head is close to be AIG chairman: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former American Express Co's chief Harvey Golub emerged as the frontrunner to become chairman of American International Group Inc, the Financial Times said on Wednesday, citing people close to the situation.

Golub, who was chairman and chief executive of the largest U.S. credit card company between 1993 and 2001, was elected director of AIG in June.

AIG declined to comment.

Earlier this week, the insurer -- which received three successive bailouts totaling about $180 billion -- tapped former MetLife chief Robert Benmosche to be its new chief executive, effective next Monday.

AIG is expected to appoint one of its newest directors for the role, a person familiar with developments said on Monday.

Six directors joined AIG's board in June, including Golub; Christopher Lynch, a retired KPMG partner; Arthur Martinez, former head of Sears, Roebuck & Co; Robert "Steve" Miller, Delphi Corp's executive chairman; Douglas Steenland, former CEO of Northwest Airlines Corp, and Laurette Koellner, a former Boeing executive.

AIG -- nearly 80 percent owned by the U.S. government -- is expected to report second-quarter results on Friday.

Once the world's largest insurer, the firm has reported billions of dollars in losses in each of the previous five quarters, but analysts estimated AIG could benefit from unrealized investment gains, partly reversing write-downs in earlier quarters.

AIG shares soared 62.7 percent to $22 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Lilla Zuill and Juan Lagorio; editing by Bernard Orr)