Trump eyes Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac IPO in 2025

The Trump administration is prepping to sell stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored home mortgage companies, later this year, according to reporting Friday by The Wall Street Journal.

Based in McLean, Freddie Mac is Virginia’s top-ranked company on the Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500 lists. Fannie Mae is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Officials in the administration, according to the WSJ, valued the companies at about $500 billion or more and said the plans involve selling between 5% and 15% of the companies’ stock, which is anticipated to raise about $30 billion. It is unclear if the companies would be bundled together or whether they would remain government-sponsored entities, according to the Journal’s sources.

In May, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was considering taking Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae public. “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing very well, throwing off a lot of CASH, and the time would seem to be right,” he wrote.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been under government control since the 2008 financial crisis. “This was supposed to be a stopgap measure,” explained David Bieri, associate professor in the school of public and international affairs and associate professor of economics at Virginia Tech.

During his first term, Trump tried to take Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae private but was unsuccessful.

Opponents to selling stock in the companies warn it could cause mortgage rates to go up and tighten available credit.

As for Bieri, he cautions that the devil is the details. “There are a number of regulatory design questions that need to be asked,” he said.

Overall, however, Bieri considers talk of selling shares of the mortgage companies to be positive.

“As of today, the U.S. mortgage market is effectively nationalized, which is an insane condition for a country that  prides itself in the principles of free enterprise,” he said.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia’s senior senator, and other Senate Democrats sent a June 5 letter to William J. Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Financing Administration, expressing concern that the Trump administration might make “significant changes to the [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] Enterprises in a way that would put investor profits over the homes of millions of Americans.”

The letter continued: “Should President Trump make good on his plans, he may take us back to the status quo before the 2008 foreclosure crisis, when the Enterprises’ investors enjoyed the full profits that come with privatization while knowing taxpayers would be on the hook for any future failures.”

In March, the Trump administration axed Diana Reid as Freddie Mac’s CEO. Freddie Mac President Michael Hutchins took over as interim. In June, he agreed to continue his dual roles until Sept. 30 or when a permanent leader is appointed.

Freddie Mac reported a net revenue of $23.9 billion in 2024, up from $21.2 billion in 2023. It was ranked No. 38 on the 2025 Fortune 500.