Mozilo to slice his own pay, fees

Countrywide Financial Corp. Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo, under fire over the size of his potential payout from the proposed sale of his troubled mortgage company, says he is forfeiting some $37.5 million in severance pay, fees and perks that he was scheduled to receive upon his retirement.

Mozilo, however, will still retain retirement benefits and deferred compensation that he has already earned, Countrywide said in a statement being released today.

In addition to cash severance payments, Mozilo walked away from $400,000 a year he was to be paid under an agreement to serve as a consultant to the company after his retirement, and perks including the use of a private plane, the company said.

“I believe this decision is the right thing to do as Countrywide works toward the successful completion of the merger with Bank of America,” Mozilo said in the prepared statement.

Calabasas-based Countrywide agreed this month to be acquired by Bank of America Corp. for $4.1 billion in stock.

Mozilo is not slated to receive any cash payments tied to the completion of the acquisition, the company noted.

The chief executive has come under criticism since the deal was announced, and media reports suggested he stood to receive a multimillion-dollar payout when he leaves the company.

Mozilo had been in line to receive a package, including his retirement pay and stock holdings, of nearly $66 million, according to estimates by the Hay Group, a compensation consulting company. Other estimates have suggested Mozilo’s payout could exceed $110 million.

Now, he’ll leave with a pension plan and supplemental executive retirement plan that totaled $23.8 million as of December 2006, according to the most recent proxy statement the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mozilo also accrued about $20.6 million in deferred compensation, according to the filing. He has sold shares of the company’s stock since last year but still has shares worth about $5.8 million.

Mozilo has been criticized for cashing in company stock options by switching his trading plans as the mortgage industry’s woes multiplied last year. Some shareholders have called for his removal.