Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide Financial’s former CEO, dies at 84

(Reuters) -Angelo Mozilo, who propelled Countrywide Financial Corp to become the largest U.S. mortgage lender before its crash in the 2008 financial crisis, has died, his family foundation said.

Mozilo, 84, died of natural causes, the foundation said in a statement on July 16.

He became the face of the mortgage meltdown when the subprime crisis surfaced in 2007. He was the son of a Bronx butcher who embodied a rags-to-riches success story.

In 2006, when Mozilo was the chief of the mortgage lender Countrywide Financials, the firm originated $461 billion worth of loans — close to $41 billion of which were subprime. Subprime loans were responsible for the global financial crisis.

Bloomberg earlier reported the news about Mozilo’s death.