Alan H. Fishman

Who is Alan H. Fishman?

Alan H. Fishman was the last CEO of Washington Mutual for 17 days before its banking assets were seized by federal regulators on September 25, 2008 in the largest bank failure in American history. WaMu's banking operations were sold to JPMorgan Chase for $1.836 billion, while the remainder of WaMu declared bankruptcy the next day.

Fishman joined WaMu on 8 September 2008, replacing outgoing CEO Kerry Killinger as part of that bank's restructuring in the face of the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008.

According to C-Span on 26 September 2008, Alan H. Fishman was ultimately paid $19 million for three weeks of being with Washington Mutual, including severance pay. Meanwhile, the company's stock price dwindled to only pennies after trading as high as $45 a share in 2007. The previous CEO was paid $14 million for one year on the job.

Fishman holds a bachelor's degree from Brown University and a master's degree in economics from Columbia University. He was previously president and chief operating officer of Sovereign Bank and president and chief executive officer of Independence Community Bank. He has served as chairman of Meridian Capital Group, one of the nation's largest commercial mortgage brokerage firms. He has been a private equity investor, focusing on financial services at Neuberger & Berman, Adler & Shaykin and at his own firm Columbia Financial Partners. In addition, he held senior executive positions at Chemical Bank and ContiFinancial Corporation.