Feds Sell Last Shares of GM Stock
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sold off the remaining shares of General Motors stock, ending a five-year federal bailout of the automotive industry, the department announced Monday.


The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sold off the remaining shares of General Motors stock, ending a five-year federal bailout of the automotive industry, the department announced Monday.
Treasury recouped $39 billion of the original $49.5 billion given to GM as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Including the bailout of AIG, Treasury recouped $432.7 billion of the $421.8 billion disbursed under TARP.
"The U.S. Treasury's ownership exit closes just one chapter in GM's ongoing turnaround story," said Dan Akeson, GM's outgoing CEO. "We will always be grateful for the second chance extended to us and we are doing our best to make the most of it."
GM announced Tuesday that Akeson is stepping down Jan. 15. The automaker appointed Mary Barra its new CEO.
While the GM bailout cost taxpayers $10 billion, it likely saved 1.2 million jobs in 2009 and ensured $39.4 billion in taxes over two years, according to a study from the Center for Automotive Research.
The bailout "helped stabilize the auto industry, and prevent another Great Depression," said Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew in a statement. "With the final sale of GM stock, this important chapter in our nation’s history is now closed."
Lew credited the bailout with creating more than 370,000 new automotive jobs.
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