Billion Share Buyback. Results, and yet you have had to announce a reduction in your workforce. What happened . We got to manage the efficiency and productivity of our company. We spent a lot of time moving people to lowercost locations. Tennessee and other locations across the United States. We have a wonderful relationship , so we are moving people out of cities into the lowercost cities and some offshore as well, so when you do that you bring the first wave, keeping the older people in their jobs until were ready to make a smooth transition. The of that is dealing with dual jobs in parallel. In addition we are looking to empower our people more so they dont have eight or nine levels the organization. We are going to look at control. To make sure our employees are empowered and dont have many places to go to get a decision, because thats what our clients want. They want an empowered culture. Thats where we have been, and we need to restore that and make sure they can get a decision from the person they first come in contact with at aig. When you talk about the layering, which units do you see that happening the most . Acrossre seeing this almost the entire 60,000 employee base. We are looking across the company. We are asking people to give some thought to how many approvals do you need on anything, and we are no more than five. Peoplehave to go to five to get something excited, it is too much. When people who are product people, functional fence people or Technology People and direct bosses, its getting too much. We as a company want to get to the point where we have a lot of authority at the local level and very little layers above that. Just a thought of how do we improve the decisionmaking environment. You have the Share Buyback program. Is that because there is nothing out there for you to really put your cash to work . Well, right now theres nothing there this week but it also says we have stresstested the company to the best of our ability. Were looking at can we handle a significant downturn in the economy, a stress event, if you will. When we look at all that we say weve had a very good not only quarter but weve had a very good year, so were looking at the amount of cash we have for contingency and we still have excess cash. So for now were comfortable. We want to be able to continually on a routine basis provide opportunities for buybacks and dividends. But you are saying right now there are no acquisitions you foresee bringing into the fold of a. I. G. . We are constantly looking at acquisitions and looking at if we did how to fund or finance that. So for now we see nothing on the horizon of stress testing at this particular period of time of not being able to continue the normal flow of buybacks to shareholders. Do you find it hampers your return being labeled a systemically Important Institution . It will have an effect over time depending on what the regulations are. Right now were not concerned about that. Were concerned about running our businesses the right way. Once our businesses come out well take a look at whats required and we may have a new normal. I dont know that i can say we will or wont but whats important is we run this company prudently now and see what the regulators want down the road. Speaking of regulators, janet yellen made her first public remarks this week. Dont know if you were able to watch her five plus hours of testimony on the hill. No, i was a little bit busy. But the comments about too big too fail, this is what wilbur ross said on the regulatory side the big complaint people have is with the Consumer Protection bureau. But as i understand it, while its housed at the Federal Reserve, the Federal Reserve really has no control over it. Do you agree its that weak . I think wilbur is talking about a small piece of the regulatory environment. The Federal Reserve has enormous capabilities, has enormous breadth of responsibility and they will execute that. I think what janet yellen said which is good is that she recognizes that the banks that theyre regulating, under the collins amendment, its important to understand that banks need to be regulated one way and we need to think about the way we regulate Insurance Companies and regulate in a slightly different way. That recognition is important for us and quite frankly as ive said all along, the Federal Reserve, working with the industry over time with come up with the right model that they can speak for all of us in the Insurance Companies to say that our Holding Companies of the Insurance Companies, that those are in aggregate running soundly and it wont bring down the Financial System. Are you more or less confident or about the same, seeing her testimony . Do you feel comfortable with her as now the fed chair . I feel comfortable that she sees the issues. Well see how she is as look, when you move into the chairman role and you got everybody looking at you and taking shots at you as you know. As i know. Very well. I think its a question of her leadership and ability to go through those kinds of challenges and stay focuses on getting the right things done. Were you surprised that Berkshire Hathaway is being considered a systemically Important Institution . The last time i looked i thought geico was an insurance company. I think it is. Good point. So if you look at but systemically important . If you look at the amount of reinsurance that is written, if the reInsurance Companies are not able to live up to their contracts and guarantees, there are some exposures he has taken off that are very large. If at some point they cant live up to the insurance that theyre contracted for, that could affect a. I. G. If it affects a. I. G. And we dont have enough reserves we did a very big deal with them a couple years ago on asbestos. If they cant deliver, were going to have to put up the money. If it causes a backlash to other insurers, all of a sudden its going to cripple a. I. G. It has a domino effect. Not only a. I. G. But other large insurers around the globe which have not been put into this current wave and you think its right that they should . Well, theyre part of the Financial System and if something happens to them, it affects us. Thats what were looking for, making sure that companies that make guarantees that affect other large institutions cant bring down the Financial System. Theyre not too big to fail if they cant bring down the institution. Whats the shareholders may be out but it wont bring down the Financial System. What were overfocused on, if a. I. G. Got into trouble again, i am comfortable we can live up to all the promises made to, maybe not the shareholders or bondholders but to the clients. Im curious because you have been able to bring this company out of the trough and under public scrutiny. You see all these activist investors, carl icahn, all the pressure theyre putting on c. E. O. s these days and you see this past week Tim Armstrong being lambasted for some comments he made in a town hall meeting, does it put more pressure on you or do you feel like youve got more eyes watching on you because there has been so much of this kind of news out on c. E. O. s and they have to be so much more careful about what they say and they have these activist investors on their backs . You have to think about your shareholders. If you are doing the right thing for your shareholders, then the activists dont have an issue. If you are doing the right thing for your clients, the clients are happy and if you do the right thing for your shareholders, the shareholders will be happen make sure people Work Together so the client is getting worldclass service and make sure you think about shareholder value and that you are running the company to the point that everyone is satisfied. Its a balancing act. If you become lopsided in any way and the shareholder is not geting a getting a fair return or a little careless even . You become careless when you dont listen to your people. I have a Wonderful Group of people. Its open season on bob some days. Its tough for c. E. O. s to get open input from people. I work very hard on it and the team works hard to get good i putt. You shouldnt get yourself in trouble if you are listening to all the people around the organization. So yeah, run the company the right way and if you are not there is somebody overseeing whats going on, which is the market broadly, that will tell you there is something wrong with your company. Thank you so much for stopping by this afternoon or this evening. Bob benmosche. Pimm, back to you. Thanks very much, betty. Coming up, travel disrupted in the south and along the eastern seaboard because of a winter storm. How will all those valentines day flowers get to where they need to do . We talk to 1800flowers next. My next guests company is going to sell more than seven million roses this week and more than 250,000 pounds of chocolate by valentines day. 1800flowers. Com founder and chief executive jim mccann is with me and hes the author of a new book entitled talk is not cheap, the art of conversation leadership. Jim, its a pleasure. Happy valentines day. It seems like its almost an annual event. Lets start with the book first. Why did you decide to write this book . I guess because i wrote a book 13, 14 years ago about the lessons ive learned in my two careers, first in social services and second as a florist and how what i learned working in a home for teenage boys applies to my day job now. Its a continuation of that conversation and i realize i dont have a formal Business Education but all the things ive learned through interesting interactions. Certainly you teach people that every day in the terms of you are curious or learning all the time, thats why you are so good with guests. Can you give us an example of something you have gleaned from your experience . Give us an example of this conversation technique. I was listening before when the conversation on the show was about the minimum wage and a concern i have is you and i did similar things as kids, working in retail stores. Thats how we learned about business, how we learned what people do. Youre a sales guy . You call on these retailers . And my concern is as the minimum wage goes up, young people dont have the same opportunities to work as they used to. In fact its almost out of fashion for people to work parttime or in the summers. So me it was a way to continue the dialogue and im looking for more conversations, interesting conversations. Ok. Lets talk about the storm, the Winter Weather thats battered the south as well as the eastern seaboard and the midwest. Whats going on with the weather and how does that affect 1800flowers . Well, it affects us. 2 3 of the country is fine and not impacted by bad weather, but certainly the east is. Weve averaged i guess one storm every 10 years that effects us like this, so you can build that into your process. Now i remember why in the summer we are taking drills. We named this operation love storm. Were prepared because weve practiced these drills you have the contingency plan . Big time. Flowers from location b to the good news is a lot of new yorkers and people on the east coast are not getting to the office so more people are saying deliver to the office. Not sure if shes going to be at the office or can get in, so deliver to the home. Thats if you have the flowers in place . Where do they come from this year . Your growing season depends on where the warmth is around the globe. Right now places like california where flower production has been going down, it is going back up because it can be more efficient the colombia in south america is the biggest source of roses this time of year because they have the good climate but the flowers have been in place for a few days. So were ahead of the storm. Whats the biggest seller . Right now a mixed bouquet. Everyone likes roses but its not just the red. A Great Variety available. And of course chocolate goes with it, too . I think it goes perfectly. I want to thank my guest, jim mccann, chairman and chief executive of 1800flowers. Com and author of talk is cheap. Next up, you are going to meet the woman who is the chief executive of the amazon of russia. This is taking stock. Lots of attention focused on russia right now. Of course the Olympic Games focused on sochi, russia. But i want to get some insight into the current state of business and high tech coming together in retail in russia. Joining me is the chief executive of ozon, thecompany known as the amazon. Com of russia. Thank you for being here. Tell us something about the amazon of russia . Do you want some big numbers . Good we love big numbers. All right. The biggest Ecommerce Group in russia. We have 14 million customers, 3. 5 million products that go from books all the way to toys to shoes. We also sell travel, hotels. So were really a big group. All right. Youre a very big group. How did you get to be the head of such a Big Organization . I got very lucky. Like ive been traveling a lot. Russia is my seventh country. I used to live in russia, i used to live in south africa. I lived in france, which is my home country. But i speak russian which i learned at school, and at some point i was working for an American Company called b. C. G. And they discovered i speak russian and they sent me to russia and one of my last clients there was ozon and they made me an offer i really could not refuse. Do you get to shop for anything on the ozon. Com web site . Yes. Absolutely everything. Shoes, makeup, if you are a woman you will find everything you want. And what would people be surprised to learn that ozon. Com provides that make amazon. Com doesnt . Does it provide local products or products specific to the russian audience . I think the biggest difference is we handle the delivery ourselves. Amazon, once they ship it out of their warehouse, thats it. But we have our own Delivery Service which does nationwide delivery and cash collection because unlike amazon we do the majority of our business as cash on delivery. 75 of the transactions on ozon are cash on delivery. Do you want to transit those paying by cash to using credit or more electronic means of payment . Were getting step by step to that point but its not really a revolution, its more an evolution. Prepay payment by card was 10 when i started and now it is 15 . Not a big change. Who owns ozon. Com . A lot of people. Were a private company. We have russian investors and almost american investors. Among them are cisco, been with us for over seven years now and we have a japanese investor, the Biggest Ecommerce Company in japan. What are some of the hottest items right now . Whats the bestselling item . All the sochibranded items are really selling very well. All the olympic branded stuff . Yes. The russians are so proud of whats happening over there and they spent a lot of time and of course money to make it work and they want to show it to the world. I also notice there seems to be a big valentines day presence on the web site. Yes, there is. Is that a well known and well attended holiday in russia . Not as popular as what we call womans day, 8 of march, which is a big thing. If you are a woman you want to be in russia on the 8th of march. 8th of march . All right. Well look for that. Thank you very much. It is 56 minutes past the hour. That means time for on the markets on bloomberg the the Dow Jones Industrial average closed higher by 63. The nasdaq higher by 39. Thanks for taking stock. I am pimm fox. Good night. Tonight on titans at the table. Businessman turned environmental activist. He was born and raised in the Financial Capital of the u. S. , new york city but chose to open his company in San Francisco. He founded the company with 8 million, and by the time he stepped down he turned the initial investment into 30 billion, making it the fourthlargest hedge fund in the world. An estimated two point 6 million. Not content with the golf course as anreinvented himself activist. Each week we take a look at the Keystone Pipeline or postal. He believes the ling the canadianwill escalate oil. The question here was is this a chance to change our trajectory . Is this a change to way the way to change the policy of energy . Town inught up with his arkansas where he was looking at the oil spill. Here is some just off the top of the water. Its sticky. Its extremely sticky. It smells awful. In march, 2013, a shallow underground pipeline owned by down the residential street as you see in this video. The smell is unbelievable. Look, there is oil. The oil flowed down the street through a drainage ditch. The crews had come from alberta, canada, thousands of miles away. They for . E they are to soak in the oil. They are supposed to. They are supposed to soak in water. Had come to mayflower together ammunition for what may be the biggest fight of his life, trying to stop the pipeline from being built. He worries more leaks like this one could happen. The proposed by blind would stretch from the Canadian Border across the u. S. To the existing pipeline that carries oil to the refinery. It is not going to the United States. Nots going to be more oil from the middle east. That is true, but it just means there is more oil not from the middle east in the world market. We walked along the quiet street in mayflower that just a few months before had been cover it in oil. Exxon mobil is facing a 2. 6 million fine for the spill and spent 70 million 70 million to clean it up. Three houses were so badly damaged exxon not them down. Most sat empty. Accident, this could be a long shot. If you look at the polls,