Angelo’s angles: How Mozilo made $138 million

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News item from the LATimes tonight: ‘As the mortgage industry swooned in late 2006 and 2007, Countrywide Financial Corp. Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo cashed in stock options valued at $138 million -- vastly expanding his wealth even as his shareholders watched their stock shrink in value.’

More: ‘Company officials say Mozilo did nothing wrong and that the transactions were made under trading plans that specified how many shares would be sold each month.’

Here’s the interesting twist, though: Mozilo changed his trading plan twice -- in late 2006 and early 2007, the Times reports.

More: ‘Although trading plans usually protect executives against allegations that they traded on inside information, experts say Mozilo may have weakened his defense by making changes in a relatively short period of time. ‘This raises a slew of red flags,’ said Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago-based securities lawyer. ‘Any time you have revisions or modified plans. . . it is extremely suspicious.’

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Photo Credit: Reuters