As announced by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William J. Pulte on X, Fannie Mae will be welcoming back its former president David Benson in the role of senior advisor.
In November 2023, Benson announced his retirement after 20-plus years with the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), replaced by then CEO Priscilla Almodovar.
Since May 2025, Benson has served on the Board of Directors for Essent Group Ltd., a Bermuda-based holding company that offers private mortgage insurance (PMI), reinsurance, and title insurance and settlement services for the housing finance industry.
Benson brings more than 30 years of experience in mortgage credit, finance, and capital markets back to Fannie Mae. From 2002–2024, he held a variety of roles at Fannie Mae, from vice president and assistant treasurer, to executive vice president of capital markets, to chief financial officer. In August 2018, Bensin was named president of the GSE, and in May 2022, also named to the dual role of president/interim chief executive officer. His responsibilities at the GSE spanned across Fannie Mae’s business units and corporate functions, including finance, IT, and strategy, as well as human resources and communications.
Prior to his tenure at Fannie Mae, he was employed at Merrill Lynch & Company Inc., where he led initiatives in risk management, trading, and e-commerce.
Benson holds a BS in psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, an MBA from Stanford University, and an MD from Harvard Medical School.
News of Benson’s return comes as the Trump administration explores options in bringing both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public. In early September, President Donald Trump engaged with some of the nation’s top banking minds in order to explore bringing the GSEs public. Fannie and Freddie are two entities that help provide stability and affordability to America’s home mortgage market. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that the two support approximately 70% of the U.S. mortgage market.
Trump has met with Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon on the matter, to discuss ideas and strategies on launching large-scale IPOs for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and how some of the nation’s major banks like Chase and Bank of America could participate in the process.
On September 6, 2008, with consent of both Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Boards of Directors, the Director of the FHFA exercised statutory authority to place each GSE into conservatorship. This move established the two conservatorships in response to a deterioration in the housing markets that severely damaged the financial condition of each, and left both of them unable to fulfill their missions without government intervention.
