Fannie Mae Director Resigns One Day Into Tenure Amid FHFA Upheaval
Amid a tumultuous week at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a Fannie Mae board member has stepped down — one day after stepping into the role.
Christopher Stanley, a cybersecurity engineer at SpaceX and X, two companies owned by Elon Musk, resigned Tuesday, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was appointed to the board of directors by Bill Pulte on Monday. Bloomberg first reported the resignation.
He didn't give a reason for his sudden departure.
Stanley's Monday appointment to the board was alongside three others. At the same time, eight board members were removed. Pulte also named himself the chairman of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Pulte was confirmed as director of the FHFA — making him the nation's chief housing finance regulator — just a week ago. But since then, he has quickly shaken things up.
He and Freddie Mac CEO Diana Reid on Wednesday penned a memo laying out a return-to-office plan for the government-sponsored enterprise, according to Bloomberg. Freddie Mac employees are expected to have approximately 45 days to start working from their desks five days a week.
Freddie Mac is based in McLean, Virginia, and as of Jan. 31, it had more than 8,000 employees, according to Bloomberg.
The memo also reportedly says that compensation plans will be reviewed to reward key employees, and it hinted at “a number of enhanced amenities” that Freddie is exploring offering, Bloomberg reported.
Pulte previously announced that management teams will begin reviewing Fannie and Freddie’s 2025 budgets. In an X post, he mentioned that the audit is “like business does!”
Pulte is the grandson of William Pulte, the founder of homebuilder PulteGroup, but he is better known for investing hundreds of millions in GameStop and Bed Bath & Beyond during the meme stock craze. He also has at least a $5M stake in MrBeast Industries, the holding company for Jimmy Donaldson, the most subscribed YouTube creator.
Pulte has said that the mortgage giants “shouldn’t be in conservatorship forever” but that privatizing the organizations isn't an immediate priority. Freddie and Fannie have been under federal oversight for nearly 17 years, but officials in the Trump administration, including Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, have expressed a desire to remove government control.
Fears have arisen that layoffs could be coming for Freddie and Fannie as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency looks to slash government spending across agencies. Stanley’s departure means the billionaire has lost what could have been a key ally inside Fannie.
Fannie Mae is headquartered five blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C., and employs more than 8,200 people, according to its latest year-end report.
