By Laura Davison and Lydia Beyoud | Bloomberg
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae has added Christopher Stanley, a cybersecurity engineer at SpaceX and social media platform X — who is also involved with the Department of Government Efficiency — to its board of directors, the latest sign of how Elon Musk’s allies are embedding into the federal government.
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The appointment, detailed in a regulatory filing on Monday, lists a series of changes at Fannie, including adding Stanley to the board alongside newly confirmed Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte and the FHFA’s general counsel Clinton Jones.
The board shakeup comes days after Pulte was confirmed to his post to lead the FHFA, the agency that sits at the crux of the US housing market, with oversight of Fannie and Freddie Mac.
The appointment gives a key Musk ally a high-ranking role in overseeing the future of an entity that has been under government supervision since the 2008 financial crisis. Investors have pushed the Trump administration to release Fannie and Freddie from government conservatorship, a move that has the potential to net hedge funds billions.
In addition to having sway over the government-sponsored entity, Stanley also has the potential to access Fannie’s home-lending data as a member of its board. DOGE, Musk’s federal cost-cutting effort, has burrowed into agencies across the government bureaucracy, calling for staff cuts and terminating contracts.
Musk’s team has also sought access to valuable databases, including the Treasury’s payment system and Social Security files, moves that have raised alarms from Democrats and federal officials who say the billionaire entrepreneur has access to information that could benefit his web of businesses.
Stanley will be compensated for his role on the board, Monday’s disclosure said. Non-management directors receive annual cash compensation of $160,000, according to an SEC filing.
Pulte, a self-proclaimed online philanthropist also has ties to Musk — he is an active user of X and disclosed a small investment in the social media site.
He is the grandson and namesake of the homebuilder Bill Pulte, who expanded PulteGroup Inc. into one of the largest US homebuilders. The younger Pulte previously served on PulteGroup’s board. He’s more recently feuded with company management, and is better known for his online activities, where he rose to fame by giving cash to social media followers to help them pay for medical bills, rent and other expenses.
Pulte has already suggested he could shake up operations at the FHFA, posting on social media last week that Fannie and Freddie make more than $30 billion per year.
“The Fannie & Freddie Management Teams and I will immediately review their 2025 budgets (like business does!) to help restore the American Dream for Americans who have been crushed these last 4 years,” he said on X.
–With assistance from Saleha Mohsin.
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