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Bill Pulte
American businessman (born 1988) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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William John Pulte (born May 28, 1988), grandson of William J. Pulte, founder of PulteGroup, a residential home construction company, is an American businessman who has served as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) since March 2025, and subsequently, chairman of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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Pulte studied broadcast journalism at Northwestern University, graduating in 2010. Pulte founded Pulte Capital in 2011, a private equity firm, and founded The Blight Authority, a nonprofit that clears empty homes, in 2015. Amid a leadership dispute, Pulte was named to PulteGroup's board in 2016, serving for a four year term.
In January 2025, president-elect Donald Trump named Pulte as his nominee for director of the FHFA. He was confirmed by the Senate in March. He marked his tenure by appointing himself chairman over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Beginning in April, Pulte began accusing Trump foes of mortgage fraud, including Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, California senator Adam Schiff, and Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook. The accusations levied against Cook led to calls for her dismissal as governor (by Trump and his administration), and a federal lawsuit from Cook (resisting the action).[not verified in body]
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Early life and education
William John Pulte was born on May 28, 1988, at Bethesda Memorial Hospital, in Boynton Beach, Florida,[1] the first son of Noreen and Mark Pulte, of Boca Raton, Florida;[2][1] Pulte's grandfather was William J. Pulte, the Michigan founder of PulteGroup, a residential home construction company that eventually branched out into building in Florida.[3] where William J. "Bill" was born, and attended a private high school.[4] His father Mark later married Julie,[5] and they had five further children.[2]
In high school, Pulte worked for a construction company.[6] He graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in 2010, with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism,[7][6][4] where he was the president of his university's chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha.[citation needed] He started an aerial photography business during his time at the university.[2][4] At Northwestern University, Pulte met his wife, a chemical engineer.[6]
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Career
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Private equity
After graduating, Pulte interned for Huron Capital Partners and later worked for Penske Capital Partners.[6] Pulte founded investment firm, Pulte Capital, in 2011.[2] The company had two hundred employees and US$30 million in revenue by 2014. That year, he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.[8] Pulte estimated his net worth to be US$100 million in an interview with the Detroit Free Press in December 2021.[6]
Pulte Group
In March 2016, Bill Pulte's grandfather, William J. Pulte, and a hand-picked board member, James J. Grosfeld, began a campaign to remove PulteGroup's chief executive, Richard Dugas Jr.[9][10] A University of California, Berkeley law professor, Steven Davidoff Solomon, writing in The New York Times DealBook section, noted that the senior Pulte's "power play was not entirely successful", insofar as Dugas' resignation was made effective only a year out by the board's independent directors, directors who likewise declined to re-nominate Grosfeld to the board in 2016; Solomon also noted confusion as to the senior Pulte's motivations, as, despite maintaining his share-based voting prvileges, he had committed the majority of his shares to various loans and hedges giving him the conflicting incentive "to push up Pulte’s stock price in the short term".[9]
Dugas did, however, announce that he would resign amid the pressure from the senior Pulte.[11] Bill Pulte, the grandson, was appointed to the company's board in September,[12] thus becoming one of the youngest board members of a Fortune 500 company.[2] Following the elder Pulte's death in 2018, Bill was the only descendant to receive an inheritance, according to a lawsuit.[3] Pulte remained on the board until 2020, when he was ousted due to disagreements with established board members.[6][13] During his tenure, he successfully blocked chief executive Ryan Marshall's proposal to promote Brandon Jones, the Michigan division president, to chief operating officer.[3] (Pulte sued Jones in December 2022, claiming that he had been subject to harassment on Twitter.[3])
Philanthropy and nonprofit work
By 2013, Pulte had founded the Detroit Blight Authority, a nonprofit that clears empty homes and cleans up trash, leaving empty lots.[14][15] After Mike Duggan was inaugurated as the mayor of Detroit in January 2014, he requested that Pulte halt his efforts. Pulte has since founded The Blight Authority, a nonprofit operating in Pontiac, Michigan, and St. Louis, Missouri (the latter at the behest of Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey).[2] In November 2018, Pontiac mayor Deirdre Waterman stated that her city was set to be blight-free by the following year.[16]
In 2019, Pulte began using Twitter as a platform for philanthropic efforts.[2] According to Pulte, he was inspired during a summer vacation[2] by Andrew Yang's pledge to give US$1,000 per month.[17] He has referred to himself as the "inventor of Twitter philanthropy." Pulte's posts often involve giveaways in which recipients must follow him, as well as promotional posts for GoFundMe campaigns. By August, he had established a team of ten people to work through charity requests.[2] Pulte brought attention to GoFundMe campaigns established for victims of the Oxford High School shooting[6] and the Uvalde school shooting.[18] By December 2022, he had garnered 3.2 million followers.[3]
Political activities
Thank you Bill, say hello to our GREAT VETERANS!
July 31, 2019
Bill Pulte @pulte If @realDonaldTrump retweets this, my team and I will give Two Beautiful Cars to Two Beautiful Veterans on Twitter. @DanScavino
July 31, 2019
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In July 2019, President Donald Trump praised Pulte for promising to give two cars to two veterans if Trump retweeted the post; Pulte told The Detroit News that he had met Trump several times, and that Trump was familiar with The Blight Authority.[19][verification needed] In 2024, he contributed heavily to Republican causes, including donating to the Republican National Committee and Trump's presidential campaign.[20]
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FHFA directorship (2025–present)
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Nomination and confirmation
On January 16, 2025, president-elect Donald Trump named Pulte as his nominee for director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).[21] Pulte appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on February 20, in which he advocated for lowering housing costs and constructing more homes. The committee voted to advance his nomination on March 6, in a 15–9 vote.[14] On March 13, Pulte was confirmed by the Senate in a 56–43 vote. Every Republican senator and Democratic senators Elissa Slotkin, Angela Alsobrooks, and Ruben Gallego voted to confirm him; Senator Tammy Duckworth did not vote.[22]
Tenure
Pulte marked his tenure by consolidating control over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.[23] Days after being sworn in, he pushed to remove numerous board members and fired top staff, naming himself chairman of both companies.[24][25] Pulte placed 35 workers on administrative leave; according to the National Treasury Employees Union, they were not given advance notice.[26] Among those fired were senior officials who had raised concerns about Pulte's order for the release of confidential mortgage pricing data, which they feared could have been viewed as collusion with a competitor and an attempt to fix mortgage rates.[27] Pulte later signed an order ending programs at the companies supporting first-time home buyers and assisting in down payments, leading to concerns that the companies could be privatized.[28] Pulte's job cuts targeted a department that oversaw fair housing rules for the Federal Home Loan Bank system.[29] The Washington Post has characterized Pulte's management style as "Trumpian policy-by-tweet ... often announcing sudden shifts without much heads-up or detail", notable for making decisions that have "repeatedly surprised mortgage bankers, lobbying groups and his own staff".[25]
As director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Pulte has alleged that several Trump foes committed mortgage fraud.[30][31] In April, Pulte referred Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, to attorney general Pam Bondi and deputy attorney general Todd Blanche for criminal prosecution, alleging James "falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms." In May, The Washington Post reported that the Department of Justice was investigating James.[32] In July, Trump accused California senator Adam Schiff of mortgage fraud, citing a memorandum from Fannie Mae sent to Pulte; the memorandum did not claim Schiff committed mortgage fraud.[33] During the month of August, Ed Martin was appointed as special prosecutor to oversee the investigation into James and initiate an inquiry into Schiff.[34] That same month, President Trump additionally called for Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook to resign after Pulte alleged she had committed mortgage fraud.[35][36] Trump invoked the "for cause" removal of Cook days later, although with uncertain authority.[37]
In an interview with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin in September, Pulte rejected allegations of "political weaponization", and refused to say if initial tips about Cook's mortgage documents came from an anonymous source or had originated with administration officials.[38] That month, six Democratic senators sent a letter to Pulte, alleging that he had "abused" his position "to attack President Trump's perceived adversaries".[39] According to the Los Angeles Times, "Pulte has downplayed or ignored reporting by ProPublica that several of Trump's own Cabinet members have made similar housing claims in mortgage and other financial paperwork, and reporting by Reuters that Pulte's father and stepmother have done so as well."[40][41][5]
Politico Magazine reported that, during a dinner event at the Executive Branch club in early September, secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent had threatened to punch Pulte over alleged disparaging remarks that Pulte had made about Bessent to Trump,[42] a sign of tensions between the two men.[43] According to Politico, Pulte's actions elicited discontent from several Republican lawmakers.[44]
Pulte was responsible for the mid-September ouster of Erik Siebert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,[45] having advocated for his removal over claims of allegedly deliberate delays into the investigations of Letitia James and James Comey, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[46] Federal prosecutors at the time failed to find sufficient evidence to prosecute James and declined to seek an indictment.[47][48] Trump then forced Siebert out and installed Lindsey Halligan, the White House senior associate staff secretary, who sought indictments of James and Comey within days of being appointed to her interim position in late September.[46]
In October, Reuters reported that Pulte had allegedly "skipped over his agency's inspector general when making criminal referrals", violating ethics rules.[49] Reporting in The Washington Post also highlighted Pulte's firing of dozens of employees who handle oversight at the Federal National Mortgage Association, in an alleged bid to prevent investigations into multiple complaints against a high-ranking company officer and Pulte ally.[50] The Wall Street Journal reported that the watchdogs who were removed had initiated a probe to determine if Bill Pulte "had improperly obtained mortgage records of key Democratic officials, including New York Attorney General Letitia James", following internal complaints that alleged "senior officials had improperly directed staff to access the mortgage documents of James and others".[51]
Pulte announced that the FHFA was "working on" making 50-year mortgages available to the general public after President Trump posted an infographic on Truth Social about the idea in November 2025. Politico later revealed that Pulte had come up with the idea himself and had presented the infographic to Trump while they were both at Mar-a-Lago.[52] The proposal was widely criticized by economists due to the likelihood that it would increase housing costs and require homebuyers to pay a "staggering" amount of additional interest.[53][54][55] Pulte also stated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would back home loans scored via a FICO alternative, through a company called VantageScore Solutions LLC.[56]
In late November, Representative Eric Swalwell filed a lawsuit against Pulte, alleging an abuse of power and intentional targeting of prominent Democrats.[57] Attorneys for Swalwell wrote that Pulte has repeatedly engaged in "unprecedented and unlawful" acts, specifically the "brazen practice of obtaining confidential mortgage records from Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac and then using them as a basis for referring individual homeowners to DOJ for prosecution". Swalwell stated, in a post on social media, that "Director Pulte has combed through private records of political opponents to silence them".[58] The lawsuit further alleges that Pulte has refused to make comparable criminal referrals of Trump allies, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who made potentially illegal dual "principle residence" mortgage claims that were similar in nature to the ones that Trump cited in an attempt to fire Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook.[58][59][60]
Investigation into abuses of power
On December 4, 2025, the Government Accountability Office opened an investigation into Bill Pulte's role at the FHFA, given allegations that he had abused his authority to seek retribution against Democratic political rivals. The inquiry may take several months.[61]
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References
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