In the beginning of the financial crisis, there was Angelo Mozilo.
Few figures in American business history are held in lower regard than the former Countrywide chief executive, whose perpetual tan and penchant for French cuffs made him a lightning rod for critics who vilified him as the suit symbol of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Four years ago, Mozilo struck a $67.5 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange — a slap on the wrist considering his estimated $600 million fortune.
Now comes word the feds are poised to bring a new civil suit against Mozilo and at least 10 other former Countrywide execs. Here’s a look at how the fishy mortgage maker has been portrayed through the years.
“Mozilo shows in the e-mail that his skin is not only orange, it is thin.” — Fortune
“America’s most loathed character in the cast of grinning financiers behind the sub-prime mortgage crisis.” — The Guardian
“The great subprime malefactor.” — Wall Street Journal
“[He] headed the single most corrupt subprime mortgage lender in America.” — Rolling Stone
“[Call him the] burned face of the mortgage meltdown.” — Reuters
“[He was] perhaps the best-tanned CEO in our nation’s history.” — New York Observer