Tragedy at Freddie Mac: CFO found dead, apparent suicide
The housing mess has not only sucked wealth out of the pockets of U.S. homeowners, it’s ruined the reputations of businesses and individuals who were formerly hailed as geniuses.
There’s David Lereah, the former chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, who argued so passionately for so long that housing prices during the residential real estate boom were not due for a serious fall. There’s Countrywide Home Loans, the mortgage giant that dominated during the housing boom. And don’t forget Alan Greenspan, once hailed as a visionary, now one of the people blamed for the housing industry’s current freefall.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two government-assisted mortgage lending giants, have suffered, too. The companies have been accused of making scads of bad mortgage loans, loans that have helped fuel the country’s recession.
You wonder what the strain of being considered a failure does to a person.
This Wednesday morning, David Kellerman, the acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, was found dead in his home as the result of an apparent suicide. You can read the grim news at the Web site of FOX News.
Kellermann had worked at Freddie Mac for 16 years, and was named acting chief financial officer in September of 2008. He reported directly to Freddie Mac chief executive officer David Moffett, who resigned his position last month.
No one knows why Kellerman did what he did. And I have no idea if he killed himself because of anything related to his job or the housing crisis. But I have covered mortgage lending and real estate for more than 10 years now. Kellerman isn’t the first person in this industry in this time who has taken his own life.
During the first few years of covering housing, the president of a high-flying mortgage lending company in Chicago killed himself by jumping out of a high-rise window. The mortgage company shortly fell apart. Turns out its financials weren’t as solid as everyone thought.
The Kellerman case is a tragedy, and yet another shock for an industry that is now roiling.
