Countrywide CEO gets $43 mln pay, $79 mln gain

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp. CFC.N said on Friday in a regulatory filing that Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo in 2006 received a $42.98 million of compensation and had a $78.87 million gain from the exercise of options and vesting of stock awards, as shares of the largest U.S. mortgage lender rose 24 percent.

Compensation included a $2.87 million salary, $19.01 million of option awards, $20.46 million of non-equity incentive awards and $643,205 of other compensation.

Mozilo, 68, also had a $72.21 million gain from the exercise of 2,355,769 stock options, and a $6.66 million gain from the vesting of 170,002 shares.

Compensation is based on salary, bonus, the value of stock options and other awards granted during the year, and incentives and perks. Countrywide disclosed Mozilo's pay package in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Profit at Calabasas, California-based Countrywide rose 6 percent last year to about $2.68 billion, or $4.30 per share.