djc
01-28-2008, 04:13 AM
Facing pressure over his payout, Angelo Mozilo says he is giving up severance pay and other perks.
January 28 2008: 3:44 AM EST
Bank of America purchases Countrywide Financial, one of the companies hardest hit by the subprime mortgage meltdown.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Countrywide Financial Corp. CEO Angelo Mozilo, under fire over the size of his potential payout from the proposed sale of his troubled mortgage company, says he is forfeiting some $37.5 million in severance pay, fees and perks he was scheduled to receive upon his retirement.
Mozilo, however, will still retain retirement benefits and deferred compensation that he has already earned, Countrywide said in a statement released Monday.
In addition to $36.4 million cash severance payments, Mozilo also walked away from $400,000 per year he was to be paid under an agreement to serve as a consultant to the company following his retirement, and perks including the use of a private airplane, the company said.
"I believe this decision is the right thing to do as Countrywide works toward the successful completion of the merger with Bank of America," Mozilo said in the prepared statement.
Damon Silvers, associate general counsel of the AFL-CIO, which operates a Web site that tracks executive pay, said that by giving up his severance pay Mozilo "seems to recognize that there's something wrong with this picture."
"It would be best if Countrywide and Bank of America froze all of his compensation until a thorough inquiry could be completed as to exactly what happened at Countrywide," Silvers said, referring to allegations raised in some shareholder lawsuits filed last year that the company failed to warn investors about the depth of its financial troubles.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/28/news/newsmakers/countrywide_mozilo.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008012803
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He must have had some real pressure from somewhere to do this.
January 28 2008: 3:44 AM EST
Bank of America purchases Countrywide Financial, one of the companies hardest hit by the subprime mortgage meltdown.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Countrywide Financial Corp. CEO Angelo Mozilo, under fire over the size of his potential payout from the proposed sale of his troubled mortgage company, says he is forfeiting some $37.5 million in severance pay, fees and perks he was scheduled to receive upon his retirement.
Mozilo, however, will still retain retirement benefits and deferred compensation that he has already earned, Countrywide said in a statement released Monday.
In addition to $36.4 million cash severance payments, Mozilo also walked away from $400,000 per year he was to be paid under an agreement to serve as a consultant to the company following his retirement, and perks including the use of a private airplane, the company said.
"I believe this decision is the right thing to do as Countrywide works toward the successful completion of the merger with Bank of America," Mozilo said in the prepared statement.
Damon Silvers, associate general counsel of the AFL-CIO, which operates a Web site that tracks executive pay, said that by giving up his severance pay Mozilo "seems to recognize that there's something wrong with this picture."
"It would be best if Countrywide and Bank of America froze all of his compensation until a thorough inquiry could be completed as to exactly what happened at Countrywide," Silvers said, referring to allegations raised in some shareholder lawsuits filed last year that the company failed to warn investors about the depth of its financial troubles.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/28/news/newsmakers/countrywide_mozilo.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008012803
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He must have had some real pressure from somewhere to do this.