Walter Investment Management Corp. in Tampa, Fla., has named financial services veteran George Awad to the posts of executive chairman and interim chief executive as current CEO Denmar Dixon announced his resignation.
Dixon, who has served as CEO and vice chairman
Awad, 56, is the principal and founder of Gibraltar Capital Corp., a wealth management and advisory firm. From 1988 to 2011, he held a variety of senior leadership roles with GE Capital and Citigroup. Most recently, he served as CEO of Consumer Finance at Citi. Other position he held at Citi include CEO of North America Cards and CEO of the Global Consumer Group EMEA.
Prior to his resignation, Dixon had served on Walter's board of directors since 2009, joining the management team in 2010. He will assume an advisory role with the company following his resignation to help it through the transition period.
As part of his severance agreement, Dixon will received a prorated annual bonus for 2016 and payment of annual bonus amounts for a period of 18 months at least equal to his 2016 target of $1.2 million. He will also be awarded a cash payment of $2.25 million within 45 days following the date of the separation agreement and 125,000 restricted stock units, in lieu of long-term incentives and certain rights to cash out equity awards.
Dixon will also earn $200,000 in a cash payment in 2017 in recognition of his advisory role during the transition.
Walter Investment Management posted a $172.7 million net loss during the first quarter on a hit to the company's mortgage servicing rights valuation from lower interest rates.
