Mortgage giant Freddie Mac has tapped Kenny M. Smith, a retired consultant with expertise in financial services, as its new CEO, citing his “40 years of experience providing strategy, operational, risk management and governance counsel.”
Smith, 64, spent 27 years at Deloitte Consulting LLP, where his roles included serving as global lead client service partner for Wells Fargo & Company from 2008 to 2019. He’s scheduled to report to work on Wednesday for the $600,000-a-year job, where he’ll take over for interim CEO Michael Hutchins.
“Kenny Smith’s background and decades of experience in financial services will be an asset to Freddie Mac as we continue to meet the needs of homeowners, renters and the industry in 2026 and beyond.” Hutchins said in a statement.
The Trump administration has been preparing Freddie Mac and its sister company, Fannie Mae, for a public offering in which the government is expected to sell a small slice of its 80 percent ownership stake in the companies.
Hutchins took over as Freddie Mac’s interim CEO in March, after CEO Diana Reid was dismissed in a purge of executives and board members at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
FHFA Director Bill Pulte, who installed himself as chair of Fannie and Freddie’s boards, has continued to exert tight control over the companies. Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar, Chief Ethics Officer Suzanne Libby and General Counsel Danielle McCoy were ousted or forced out in October.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has agreed to investigate whether the FHFA misused federal authority and resources to target perceived enemies of the Trump administration, after Pulte sent criminal referrals of four prominent Democrats to the Department of Justice suggesting they committed mortgage fraud.
Pulte denies claims that he has weaponized Fannie and Freddie against Democrats, claiming that mortgage fraud is “rampant” and that the FHFA will continue to refer borrowers who break the law regardless of their political party affiliation.
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