The U.S. Treasury today announced that it has sold all of the remaining shares of General Motors GM +1.82% common stock, ending four-and-a-half years of government ownership.
Taxpayers recouped about $39 billion of the $50.1 billion pumped into GM in late 2008 and 2009 as the Bush and Obama administrations tried to save the car maker from collapse after years of mismanagement brought to a head by a crippling credit crisis and economic recession. The sale will put an end to restrictions on executive pay, which will help GM attract top talent, and could pave the way for new dividends or share repurchases, both of which would please investors.
Historians, economists and politicians will continue to debate whether the bailout was a good idea, but there was no disagreement Monday that it was good for this episode to be over.
“The President’s leadership in responding to the financial crisis helped stabilize the auto industry, and prevent another Great Depression. With the final sale of GM stock, this important chapter in our nation’s history is now closed,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew.
“The U.S. Treasury’s ownership exit closes just one chapter in GM’s ongoing turnaround story,” said GM chief executive Dan Akerson. “We will always be grateful for the second chance extended to us and we are doing our best to make the most of it. Today is not dramatically different from the hundreds of preceding days during which we have worked to make GM a company our country can be proud of again.”
Despite the $11 billion loss on the GM bailout, the Treasury Department was quick to point out that it has recovered a total of $432.7 billion on all investments under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) – including the sale of its shares in AIG – compared to $421.8 billion disbursed. Treasury said it will continue to wind down the remaining investments”in a manner that balances maximizing the taxpayer’s return on investments with the speed of our exit.”
A study released Monday by the Center for Automotive Research concluded that the government bailout of GM spared 1.2 million jobs in 2009 and preserved $39.4 billion in personal and social insurance tax collections in 2009 and 2010. “Any complete cost-benefit assessment of the federal assistance to GM in its restructuring must consider the total net returns to the public investment…” researchers Sean McAlinden and Debra Maranger Menk wrote in “The Effect on the U.S. Economy of the Successful Restructuring of General Motors.”
“If the U.S. government had refused to assist (GM and Chrysler)… in a financial crisis of unprecedented proportions, then the whole U.S. economy was operating without a safety net, with the exception, of course, of the banking system,” McAlinden and Maranger Menk conclude. The center independently funded the new study as a follow up to a November 2008 analysis.
“The bottom line is that a failed GM would have left a lot of collateral damage,” said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book. “Instead, GM is profitable, it’s making the best products in its 100-plus-year history, and it’s growing sales in the U.S. and globally. In looking at the recent history of government intervention, this one rates pretty well.”
Not everyone will agree, however, and GM may never fully recover from the bruises to its reputation inflicted by its dependence on government assistance.
But Akerson said a now-healthy GM is focused on the future. “Continued investments, innovation, and job creation are just some of the “returns” of a healthy GM and domestic auto industry. Our work continues uninterrupted, and we will keep our sights squarely on our customers and transforming the way we do business.”

GM failed because of poor products. End of discussion.

They should've been allowed to fail. The doom and gloom scenarios put out by them are nothing but conjecture or short term issues.

GM will continue to be Government Motors until they pay back the $11 BILLION DOLLARS THEY OWE US.

You're right that Ford mortgaged the entire company back in 2006, when the economy was strong, but GM had that same opportunity at the time as well and was advised to do so, but did not.

Even after the bailouts, GM wanted to continue their mis-managment, keep too many brands, and still was producing half-assed cars that still didn't live up to the market's expectations. They were heading downward long before any recession.