RESTON, Va. – A reversal of fortune will cost Albert Lord, the chairman and once-again CEO of Sallie Mae, big this Christmas, perhaps as much as $115 million.
That’s the difference between the $225 million Lord would have made if the $29 billion takeover of the student loan giant had gone through as agreed to last May--and the value of his shares now that the deal has fallen apart.
Lord sold 1.2 million of his shares last Friday for an average of $27 each, less than half the $60-a-share price he was promised from a group of investors led by private equity fund J.C. Flowers & Co. and bank giants JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America.
The group walked away from the deal after Congress passed deep cuts in student lender subsidies and guarantees and Sallie Mae is suing the investors over a $900 million break-up fee they say is owed.
Sallie Mae shares closed up $1 yesterday on the NYSE, to end the day at $28.87.
