Peer Pressure
Jan 28th, 2008 at 9:06 am by Susie
I’m actually shocked that this guy can still feel shame:
Angelo Mozilo, chairman and chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial Corp., is giving up $37.5 million of severance pay, fees and benefits in the face of pressure from politicians who have berated him for continuing to collect large sums from the mortgage lender even as millions of Americans face the threat of foreclosure.
In a statement released late last night, Countrywide said the 69-year-old Mr. Mozilo will forfeit severance pay, fees and perks that he was to have received upon his retirement, according to the Associated Press.
That’s not shame … that’s buying press.
Mozilo hauled down $97 million over the five years 2001-2005, according to Forbes, and sold off $129 million in Countrywide options in just the 12 months ending in August 2007 (when NOBODY could have foreseen Countrywide’s “issues”), according to the NYT (obligatory grain of salt warning, they may have added or dropped a decimal; who knows?).
August 2007, of course, is when the newsies woke up and smelled the stink. Big Shitpile was international news by the middle of the month.
I wonder if Dubya will follow suit and give up his federal
pension and healthcare.
He did far more harm than Mozillo.