Angelo R. Mozilo was born on 1938, in The Bronx, New York City USA, and is a businessman, best known to be the former chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Countrywide Financial, a position he held until 2008, but all of his endeavors have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Angelo Mozilo? As of early-2017, sources estimate a net worth that is over $600 million, mostly earned through his time with Countrywide Financial; the way he earned his money has been surrounded by controversy. He’s also been known for other issues as well as his exposure to the media. All of these ensured the position of his wealth.
Angelo Mozilo Net Worth $600 million
Angelo attended Fordham University and would graduate in 1960. Nine years later he would form the mortgage lending company Countrywide Credit Industries alongside former mentor David S. Loeb. The company started in New York and would later move to Pasadena, California, and then to Calabasas, California. The duo would then found Countrywide Mortgage Investment, which would later become IndyMac Bank, which became one of the pioneers of the non-bank mortgage industry. In 1984, when Countrywide became part of the New York Stock Exchange, Mozilo would sell $406 million worth of its stock which would help increase his net worth significantly. In the late 1980s, the popularity of subprime loans started to rise, though he didn’t want any part of it. However, eventually they would begin to lose out to their newer competitors, leading them to go ahead and do subprime loans as well. The industry would then undergo the subprime mortgage crisis who many believe led to the financial downfall of the United States in 2008. Angelo would become the forefront of that crisis, and became a symbol for it.
In 2001, Mozilo received compensation during the United States housing bubble of around $470 million, increasing his net worth even further, and which apart from salary and bonuses, included payment of equity memberships and annual country club dues. This led to him testifying to the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform during the mortgage crisis in which he defended his moves as he stated that reports were “grossly exaggerated”. Later it was discovered that he sold millions of dollars of his own stock, which led to him being charged with insider trading, as well as securities fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 2010, he formulated an agreement with the SEC to pay $67.5 million in fines, plus a lifetime ban from serving as an officer or director of any public company. It is the largest settlement by an individual connected to the 2008 housing collapse.
Other politicians and executives were pulled in to the scandal when it was discovered that several were receiving good mortgage financing from Countrywide because they were “Friends of Angelo”.
Many documentaries and shows have been released about Mozilo, including “Inside Job”. He’s also been featured in Time Magazine and on CNN as one of the reasons for the 2008 financial collapse.
For his personal life, it is known that Angelo is married to Phyllis and that they have five children. He currently resides in Santa Barbara, California.
