The Fine Print at Countrywide
When Countrywide Financial Corp. reports its third-quarter earnings Tuesday, the spotlight will be on the mortgage company's blunt-speaking boss, Angelo Mozilo -- dubbed by a government-employee federation as one of America's last "imperial" chief executives.
Mr. Mozilo, who draws flak for his hefty compensation and accolades for building the nation's largest mortgage lender, until recently was expected to step down as chief executive officer at the end of this year but remain chairman, as arranged in an employment agreement he signed two years ago.
But Countrywide announced Friday that Mr. Mozilo, who is 67 years old, will remain in the CEO post through 2009. Last month, the company elevated David Sambol, formerly an executive managing director, to the job of president and chief operating officer, making him heir apparent to Mr. Mozilo.
Once Mr. Mozilo's new agreement is disclosed, the company's critics are sure to pounce on any new details regarding his compensation. Mr. Mozilo, a butcher's son who grew up in the New York borough of the Bronx, last year reaped $119 million through the exercise of Countrywide stock options, according to the company's proxy statement.
He also received a salary of $2.7 million, a $19.6 million bonus and such perks as $40,282 for country-club memberships, $230,452 for personal use of company aircraft and $29,750 for tax and investment advice.
"He is one of the few remaining imperial CEOs who gets his way with the board quite easily," says Richard Ferlauto, director of pension and benefit policy for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, based in Washington. The Countrywide board includes Henry Cisneros, a former U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Oscar Robertson, a businessman and former professional basketball star. Neither Mr. Cisneros nor Mr. Robertson returned calls seeking comment.
A spokesman for Countrywide, based in Calabasas, Calif., declined to comment.
But in a securities filing earlier this year, Countrywide said its pay policies are "based on performance in alignment with stockholder value creation" and pointed to a surge in earnings over the past several years.
At Countrywide's annual meeting in June, the employee federation sponsored a proposal to give shareholders an annual, nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation at the company. The proposal, opposed by the company, was defeated, with 55% of the votes opposing it, 43% supporting and 2% abstaining.
In February, Mr. Mozilo was named a director and a member of the compensation committee at Home Depot Inc., whose CEO, Robert Nardelli, has been criticized for his pay package and that company's lackluster stock price in recent years.
Countrywide老板的薪酬问题
Countrywide Financial Corp.周二将公布三季度业绩，预计届时人们对这家抵押贷款公司的关注焦点将集中在它的那位说话直率的老板──安吉洛?莫兹洛(Angelo Mozilo)身上。这位老兄用美国一家政府雇员联合会的话来说，是美国最后几位“帝王般”的首席执行长之一。
莫兹洛因缔造了这家全美最大的抵押贷款公司而得到的薪酬和荣誉也为他招来了激烈的批评。直到最近，外界一直以为今年底他将在首席执行长任上离职，但仍将担任公司董事长。这个安排是两年前他跟公司签约时定下的。
但Countrywide上周五突然宣布，现年67岁的莫兹洛将在首席执行长的宝座上干到2009年。上个月，公司将原执行董事总经理戴维?桑伯(David Sambol)提升到总裁兼首席营运长的位子上，俨然是为莫兹洛培养接班人的架势。
公司与莫兹洛的新协议宣布后，批评人士对有关其薪酬的任何新安排想必都会迅速作出激烈反应。据公司的代理权声明透露，这位在纽约布朗克斯区长大的肉铺老板的儿子去年行使公司股票期权拿到了1.19亿美元。另外，他的薪水是270万美元，还有1,960万美元的奖金，以及价值40,282美元的乡村俱乐部会员卡、价值230,452美元的公司专机使用权以及价值29,750美元的税收和投资顾问服务。
在总部位于华盛顿的政府雇员协会组织American Federation of State, County and Municipal负责退休和福利政策事务的理查德?费劳托(Richard Ferlauto)说，他是仅存的少数几个能在董事会里畅通无阻、说一不二的首席执行长之一。
Countrywide董事会成员中有前美国住房和城市发展部部长亨利?希斯诺斯(Henry Cisneros)和商人兼原职业篮球明星奥斯卡?罗伯森(Oscar Robertson)。这两位都未回复记者的采访电话。
Countrywide发言人拒绝置评。
不过，Countrywide在今年早些时候提交的证券监管文件中称，公司的薪酬政策是根据管理人士的表现并参考所创造的股东价值来制定的。该公司还提到过去几年其盈利大幅上升的事实。
在该公司今年6月的年度大会上，上述政府雇员联合会发起提议，要求让股东每年就管理人士薪酬标准进行一次非约束性建议式投票。这项提议以55%反对、43%支持、2%弃权的投票结果被否决。公司也反对这个方案。
莫兹洛今年二月进入Home Depot Inc.董事会，并成为其薪酬委员会成员，而这家公司的首席执行长罗伯特?纳德里(Robert Nardelli)一直因其薪酬问题和公司近年股价表现低迷而受到外界批评。
James R. Hagerty
