- Angelo, meet Warren…
The financial folks are having some fun today over the vague possibility that Warren Buffett might want a piece of Countrywide Financial. There's no indication that such a deal is in the works - or even contemplated - but merely the suggestion of Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo working for Buffett is too delicious to pass up. Posting in Reuters DealZone, Tim McLaughlin wonders what their shorthand moniker might be. BuffAngelo? Warzilo? It's interesting about these two guys - they're both self-made but their attitudes about running a company couldn't be more different.
Take executive compensation: In just the past month, Mozilo, routinely one of the highest paid CEOs in the nation, has exercised options and then sold 672,000 shares of the Countrywide stock, netting a profit of just less than $13 million. Mozilo received an average of $31.09 a share for the stock he sold, while his average stock option exercise price was $11.77 a share. All this was going on while Countrywide stock was plummeting. Now granted, Mozilo's stock sales have been made under a prearranged trading plan (allowing a CEO to conduct transactions without worrying about having access to nonpublic information). Even so, isn't he ashamed? Shouldn't he be buying Countrywide stock as a gesture of his confidence in the company's financial condition?
By the way, why has Mozilo disappeared from view (no interviews, appearances, etc) at such a critical time in the company's history? Oh well. A Buffett purchase seems unlikely, although don't rule out some sort of liquidity deal. As McLaughlin points out, it would give Countrywide time to limit its subprime exposure while getting back on track making loans to borrowers who put money down. (AP, CNNMoney)
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| 03:50 PM Aug 21, 2007 | Email the Daily Dragon | Email this Article | Post Comments |
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