The big banks had already paid back their loans, and last week, the Treasury Department sold its remaining stake in AIG (AIG, Fortune 500). On Wednesday, General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) said it was buying back 200 million shares from the government. Bailed-out companies had also paid nearly $43 billion in dividends and interest over the past four years.
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That leaves a loss of just under $14 billion, including $6 billion for programs to prevent foreclosure that were never meant to be paid back.
The shares of banks and automakers that Treasury still owns is likely to fetch close to that much, if not more.
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