Don Layton

Mr. Layton was a Senior Industry Fellow at the Center from 2020-2022. He was the CEO of Freddie Mac from May 2012 until June 2019, which he undertook as public service given the company has been under Federal government control since 2008. He has more than 40 years of experience in financial services and as a corporate leader. He worked for nearly 30 years at JPMorgan Chase and its predecessors, starting out as a trainee and retiring in 2004 as Vice Chairman and one of its top three executives. His experience ranged from leading businesses in global capital markets, investment banking, and US consumer banking, with extensive experience as a general manager of a large financial institution. He was Chairman and then CEO of E*TRADE Financial from 2007 to 2009, shepherding it successfully through the financial crisis. Since 2004, he has served on several corporate boards, including being appointed to the board of AIG by the US Treasury. He served as a senior advisor to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association from 2006 to 2008 and serves as Chairman Emeritus of the board of the Partnership for the Homeless, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing homelessness in New York City, after having been its chair for nearly a decade. Layton received simultaneous Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.