Angelo Mozilo

Angelo Robert Mozilo was an American mortgage industry banker who was co-founder, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of mortgage giant Countrywide Financial until July 1, 2008. Mozilo retired shortly after the sale to Bank of America for a total of $4.1 billion in stock. The company's status as a major lender of subprime mortgages made it a central player in a subsequent mortgage crisis which collapsed the industry, bursting a housing bubble which had accumulated throughout the 2000s, and contributing heavily to the Great Recession. Mozilo later paid over $67 million in fines to settle a series of federal charges related to his conduct at the company.