The two chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could get paid as much as $6 million for 2009, despite the companies’ dismal performances this year which cost taxpayers more than $100 billion. The Obama administration, meanwhile, says it is removing the $400 billion financial cap it will provide to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to keep the mortgage giants from failing.
Fannie’s CEO, Michael Williams, and Freddie CEO Charles “Ed” Haldeman Jr. each will receive $900,000 in salary, $3.1 million in deferred payments next year and another $2 million if they meet certain performance goals, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
The pay packages were approved by the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie.
That pay is far less than what their predecessors earned. Former Fannie CEO Daniel Mudd received $10.2 million in 2008, and former Freddie CEO Richard Syron pocketed $13.1 million. Both executives were ousted when federal regulators seized the companies in September 2008. The federal government blocked exit packages for the pair worth up to $24 million.
Read More: – By J.W. Elphinstone, Associated Press