(((wow)))

https://www.levinlaw.com/news/asbestos-towers

"According to some estimates, the Twin Towers contained 5000 tons of asbestos materials. As long ago as the mid-1990s, the New York Port Authority was looking at an asbestos abatement bill of as much as $1 billion dollars – representing well over 12 times the buildings' original cost. When the buildings' insurers, Affiliated FM, refused to cover the asbestos removal/abatement costs and won their subsequent lawsuit over the the matter, the Port Authority was left with some untenable choices. The outdated buildings could not be demolished because of the asbestos; for the same reason, they could not be remodeled and updated in any cost-effective manner. The only other option was to slowly dismantle the Towers a piece at a time – the cost of which would have run into several billions of dollars.

How convenient that real estate developer Larry Silverstein was willing to take over the buildings – in late July of 2001, only weeks before the attacks. He signed a 99-year lease with the Port Authority – then proceeded to take out several insurance policies on the buildings. (He was originally outbid by a competitor, Vornado Real Estate Trust – but this bid was withdrawn when the Port Authority refused to reduce the terms of the lease.)"

There were previous terrorist attacks on the world trade center before 9/11. Having insurance against that would not have been unusual. My insurance company offered it to me quite a while before 9/11, specifically for commercial buildings.

Who shorted American and United Airlines? I'm way out of the loop on this.