Bill Pulte wasted no time making seismic changes at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte won Senate confirmation last week as the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees the government-sponsored enterprises.
Late Monday, regulatory filings showed that Pulte ousted 14 board members at the two companies and appointed himself as chairman. He also named replacements for some of the board members who were removed. No reasons were given for the firings.
Pulte made a post on X on Saturday that read: “Make Mortgages Great Again.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that the board members removed from Fannie were: Amy Alving, Christopher Brummer, Michael Heid, Simon Johnson, Diane Lye, Diane Nordin, Chetlur Ragavan and Michael Seelig.
Four new board members were appointed to Fannie including Pulte, FHFA general counsel Clinton Jones, Christopher Stanley and Michael Stucky.
The board members removed from Freddie were Kevin Chavers, Lance Drummond, Luke Hayden, Allan Merrill, Jane Prokop and Roy Swan. The new board members were Brandon Hamara, Clinton Jones and Ralph “Cody” Kittle along with Pulte.
The Senate confirmed Pulte as director of the FHFA on Thursday by a vote of 56-43. Pulte succeeds Biden administration appointee Sandra L. Thompson as head of the agency.
The new FHFA head is the founder of private equity firm Pulte Capital Partners. He is the grandson of William J. Pulte, founder of home construction giant PulteGroup.
