Pulte Tapped for Intel Post, Sending Fannie and Freddie Shares Into Freefall

President Trump named Bill Pulte, chairman of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as acting director of national intelligence on Tuesday, rattling mortgage-market investors who had already been waiting years for a promised IPO.

Shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumbled Tuesday after the announcement.
Bill Pulte currently serves as chair of both government-sponsored enterprises.
Analysts had already rated a Fannie and Freddie IPO as a long-shot before the news.
The acting DNI role adds a second major government portfolio to Pulte's existing mortgage-giant chairmanship.
No timeline or replacement for Pulte at the two enterprises has been announced.

Shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dropped Tuesday after President Trump announced that Bill Pulte — the sitting chairman of both government-backed mortgage giants — would take on the role of acting director of national intelligence.

Pulte has chaired the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation since earlier in the Trump administration's second term. The two enterprises have been in federal conservatorship since September 2008, and speculation about a public offering has circulated, without resolution, for years.

Traders read the personnel move as a further complication to any near-term IPO. Taking the chair of both entities and redirecting him toward the intelligence community is not the standard sequence of events that precedes a public market listing.

No acting or permanent replacement for Pulte at either enterprise was named alongside Tuesday's announcement. The White House did not specify whether Pulte would retain his mortgage-giant chairmanship while serving as acting DNI, or whether the roles were considered compatible under federal conflict-of-interest guidance.

Fannie Mae has been in conservatorship for 6,074 days as of Tuesday.