
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 7, 1991                   TAG: 9104040657
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: E/4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

EX-FANNIE MAE CHAIRMAN PAID $27 MILLION IN 1990

Retired Fannie Mae Chairman David O. Maxwell became a $27 million man last year, according to recently issued proxy statements to shareholders. The company, which paid him that much in annual compensation and retirement benefits, said he was worth every penny. A consumer advocate, however, called the payment outrageous.

Maxwell, 60, retired Jan. 31 after a decade with the Federal National Mortgage Association, a government-sponsored enterprise. He received $7.6 million in salary, stock options and other bonuses in 1990. He also received a $20 million retirement payment.

Fannie Mae is owned by stockholders, who trade their shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Originally, it was chartered by Congress to promote housing.

When Maxwell took over in 1981, the company was "teetering on the brink of insolvency," losing $1 million a day, David R. Jeffers, Fannie Mae vice president of corporate relations, said. Its stock was trading at $3 a share. Last year, it earned $1.17 billion, and its stock recently traded at $47 a share. The market value of the company has mushroomed 1900 percent over the decade, Jeffers said.

A consumer advocate, however, complained that Maxwell's incentive package encouraged him to focus on the company's bottom line to the exclusion of its public purpose of fostering affordable housing.

by CNB