Government Sells Last of GM Shares

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government no longer owns part of General Motors. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says the government sold its remaining shares in the automaker on Tuesday.

The government lost $10.5 billion on its bailout of GM. But Lew says the rescue was necessary to save 1 million jobs and stop the American auto industry from collapsing.

The government got 912 million GM shares, or 60.8 percent of the company, in exchange for a $49.5 billion bailout during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. It recovered $39 billion of the money.