Henry Cisneros, Madonna and the Big O

All directorships are not alike. Just ask Henry Cisneros.

The former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development makes a lot more money on the board of Countrywide Financial, the giant mortgage lender, but he must be having more fun at Live Nation, the concert promoter and entertainment company.

Especially now during the mortgage meltdown.

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Countrywide is cutting jobs, writing off bad loans, and dealing with an SEC inquiry into stock sales by CEO Angelo Mozilo. Some are even calling for a much wider probe of the company and its practices.

At Live Nation, meanwhile, the big news is Madonna’s $120 million concert and promotion deal.

Sure, at Countrywide board meetings, Cisneros gets to kick back with former NBA great Oscar Robertson, the Big O, who is a fellow director. But at Live Nation, Cisneros’s fiduciary responsibility extends to Madonna, who was given $25 million in stock.

Cisneros earned compensation worth $358,966 at Countrywide last year and $110,721 at Live Nation, according to company filings.

In September, the San Antonio Express-News noted that Cisneros had sold 5,000 shares of Countrywide for $200,462 (about $40 a share) in May and quoted him saying he was holding onto the rest of his stock to show his “support for the company.” Countrywide shares closed at about $16.50 Thursday.

In 2000, Cisneros helped form a company, now called CityView, which focuses on urban housing. The former president of Univision Communications and a former mayor of San Antonio, Cisneros currently sits on the board of the Broad Foundation.

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• Countrywide’s self-made men - July 27, 2007
• ExxonMobil’s well-paid directors - September 30, 2007
• The tragedy of Countrywide Financial and Angelo Mozilo - June 26, 2008
• Directors feel First Marblehead’s pain - December 17, 2007
• Madonna reportedly hires divorce lawyer to Paul McCartney, Prince Charles - June 26, 2008
• Big bonuses before the crash - August 12, 2007
• Directors stay the course at Washington Mutual - December 29, 2007
• Philip Milne: Another well-paid victim of the mortgage crisis - June 27, 2008
• $70 million severance for Countrywide’s Mozilo? - January 11, 2008
• Madonna and Guy Ritchie split - October 15, 2008