Tidjane Thiam bid for AIA, the Asian wing of the crisis-stricken AIG. A public battle ensued, with some investors complaining about the $35.5 billion price Prudential was offering to pay. The bid eventually failed, after the AIG board rejected a revised lower bid. AIA was later floated on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the value of the company quickly rose above Prudential’s original bid price. Thiam came under strong personal criticism following the failure of the bid, partly as a result of the costs incurred by the company in pursuing the bid. However, he was re-elected as CEO at the May
Mame Baba Thiam and preferred Falcinelli as sole centre forward despite Thiam also played that role few time. That season Thiam scored 4 times. During the season, Inter formed a complex deal with Sassuolo, which allowed Thiam to join Sassuolo for free in January 2010 (Inter registered a loss of €71,000), then Thiam re-joined Inter on 30 August in co-ownership deal, with Thiam's contract treated as a financial asset in Sassuolo's account and an intangible asset in Inter account, as well as the "parent" club of the co-ownership contract became Sassuolo instead of Inter. With Inter "Primavera" team, he scored 4 goals in