Even as Countrywide Financial Corp. teetered on the brink of bankruptcy last year, chairman and chief executive Angelo Mozilo took home more than $100 million, the Wall Street Journal reports.

While Mozilo saw his compensation fall 79% to $10.8 million last year, he realized $121.5 million through the exercise of stock options last year.

Stung by a surge in mortgage defaults, the company reported a loss of $704 million for 2007, its first full-year loss in more than three decades. In January, Bank of America Corp. agreed to acquire Countrywide for around $4 billion, or less than a fifth of its market value 12 months earlier. That acquisition is due to be completed in the third quarter.

In March, Mr. Mozilo appeared before a congressional panel looking at executive pay at companies involved in the mortgage default crisis, to defend his compensation.

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