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Freddie Mac's Troubles Stressed Out CFO
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 23, 2009
Modified Apr 23, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 23, 2009
Modified Apr 23, 2009
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While the cause of death for Freddie Mac's acting CFO David Kellerman isn't official (it appears to be a suicide but the ME has to do an autopsy), numerous reports say the company's problems were weighing heavily on him. The NY Times reports, "Kellerman, 41, began working nonstop, sometimes returning home only to change clothes, colleagues say. He was losing weight and telling friends that it seemed impossible to appease everyone — regulators, lawmakers, investors and other executives — given their competing demands." Freddie Mac's new CEO after the government stepped in, David Moffett, tells the Washington Post he relied tremendously on Kellerman: "The CFO of any company in today's environment is a very stressful job... particularly when you're in a company that's undergoing a tremendous amount of change and uncertainty." Another thing that plagued Kellerman: revelations that the mortgage giant's executives were getting $210 million in bonuses, with $850,000 to him. With outrage from Congress and the public over executive pay, he hired a security detail for his family. Freddie Mac had also recently disclosed the feds were investigating its accounting, disclosure and corporate governance practices.
Tagged
apparent suicide
David Kellerman
executive stress
Freddie Mac
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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