By Becky Yerak |
Aon Corp.’s financial support of the failed Chicago 2016 Olympics bid
amounted to about $1.7 million, according to the newly released proxy
of the Chicago-based insurance brokerage and consulting firm.

It
included the use of unoccupied leased space at company headquarters
valued at nearly $1.6 million. Aon also provided value-in-kind support
totaling about $100,000, including consulting services related to the
evaluation of risk management and insurance alternatives in connection
with the Chicago 2016 bid for the Olympics game.
nce costs.

Aon said its financial support of the effort ended in the fourth quarter.

Patrick Ryan built Aon and led Chicago’s failed effort to win the 2016
summer Olympics. Ryan was chief executive of Aon until 2005 and was on
its board until 2008. Other Aon board members include Andrew McKenna,
who served as co-chair of the fundraising Chicago 2016 development
committee, and John Rogers, a board member of Chicago 2016.

Aon declined to comment on the proxy details. Rogers, Ryan and McKenna could not be reached for immediate comment.

Ryan owns 6.4 percent of Aon. He recently announced plans to get back
into the insurance business. Last year he owned almost 6.8 percent of
the company.

Also, in 2009, Aon was party to contracts to provide ready access to
aircraft for executives of Aon for business purposes. These
arrangements included two leases entered into with two aircraft leasing
companies affiliated with Ryan, Globe Leasing Inc. and 17AN Leasing LLC.

Also, Aon provided hangar space and related operating support to Globe
Leasing Inc. and 17AN Leasing LLC in return for negotiated fees. In
2009, Aon paid Globe Leasing and 17AN Leasing LLC $63,040 and $129,080,
respectively, for aircraft use. Globe and 17AN paid Aon $161,335 and
$127,306, respectively, for hangar space and operating support.

“We believe that all of these arrangements are more favorable to us
than would have been obtained by negotiating similar transactions with
unrelated third parties,” Aon said in its proxy. The payments
represented in more than 5 percent of each of Globe’s and 17AN’s
revenues in 2009. Ryan owns all of Globe, and he owns 50 percent of
17AN.

In 2009, Ryan Enterprises Group LLC paid Aon $88,226 representing
insurance costs.  In 2009, Pat and Shirley Ryan paid Aon $384,723 for
pilot services in connection with the use of personal aircraft and
insura