The news was first reported in Rob Chrisman's daily newsletter and confirmed by his son Mark. Mozilo was 84.
Mozilo co-founded what would become Countrywide Financial Corp. in 1969 with David Loeb, eventually turning the nonbank into the industry's largest originator and servicer. Later, the pair would found what became known as IndyMac, which met its own fate in 2008 after becoming a bank. At that time, Mozilo was no longer involved in its affairs.
Angelo Mozilo, chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial Corp., testifies at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on severance packages for executives involved in the subprime mortgage crisis, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, March 7, 2008. Mozilo, who left Countrywide upon it's acquisition by Bank of America in July 2008, may now be the target of a civil-fraud claim by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Photographer: Jay Mallin/Bloomberg News
JAY MALLIN/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Mozilo was known in the industry for both his perpetual tan as well as his sense of style. Starting in October 1991 and over the following 12 months, Mozilo was the face of the business as president (a position that has since been renamed chairman) of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Under Mozilo's stewardship, Countrywide emphasized working with low- and moderate- income communities. In 1999, Mozilo increased Countrywide's five-year commitment, the We House America campaign to serve these borrowers, to $80 billion.
A 2003 article noted that Countrywide grew the commitment to $100 billion and achieved it three years early. It then increased the goal to $600 billion, to achieve by 2010.
Countrywide would not survive to that target date.
At the start of 2008, weighed down by poorly originated loans, which some said were reportedly done at the direction of Mozilo, Bank of America agreed to buy what it already didn't own of Countrywide for $4 billion. By then, Countrywide had moved from being an independent mortgage banker to owning a thrift.
Mozilo never faced criminal charges for what happened at Countrywide but did agree, without admitting or denying liability, to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $67.5 million.
What particularly aroused ire in some quarters was the so-called "Friends of Angelo" program. Reportedly some 18,000 of these loans were made over a 12-year period that included a 50-basis-point price break along with fee waivers.
Mozilo spent the succeeding years pushing back on the perception he and Countrywide, along with subprime lending, bore responsibility for the Financial Crisis.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there was a "high degree of unity" among committee members during this week's Federal Open Market Committee vote. Out of 12 FOMC members, 11 voted for a 25 basis point cut.
The Federal Open Market Committee's decision to reduce interest rates for the first time in nine months lifted bank stocks Wednesday. The 25-basis-point reduction could lead to net interest income headwinds now, but loan growth later, analysts said.
Community Financial in Syracuse has made its biggest investment ever in an outside company, taking a $37.4 million equity stake in an insurance provider that focuses on the rental housing market.
The two BNPL giants' pay-over-time loans will now be available for in-store purchases on Apple Pay in a move to capture more sales at brick and mortar stores.
