Taking the reins

Greenberg, a legendary figure in the global insurance world, joined Starr Companies in 1960. Fifteen years later, he became the first executive at the company to visit China since the founding of the People's Republic.

That visit led to a partnership between Starr Companies and People's Insurance Co of China, which Greenberg said was a "tiny" company at the time with only a couple of hundred employees in Beijing. Both agreed to reinsure each other, and Starr Companies helped PICC train its workers.

"We put them on our sales contracts, so they got some affluent businesses," Greenberg said. As that relationship grew, he began returning to China at least once a year and positioned Starr operations throughout Asia.

Greenburg said his vision was simple: "China has one of the largest populations in the world. As China develops, they would have insurance - people buy homes, build homes, have ships; they want to insure these properties. Obviously the potential is very great."

He said he believed China would develop and was "prepared for the amount of time it would take" for Starr Companies to re-establish its business in the country. So he visited China every time he was in Asia.

In the late 1980s, he met Shanghai's mayor, Zhu Rongji, who later became premier. Greenberg worked with Zhu in leading efforts to establish the International Business Leaders Advisory Council, with the aim to attract foreign companies to invest in the city. It was a success, and the council is now one of the most prestigious organizations of its kind in the world. This year was its 30th anniversary.