Five more years is how long fund manager Bruce Berkowitz says that it may take to resolve his legal battle with the U.S. government over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s billions in profits, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. “From beginning to end, it could be a 10-year process,” said Berkowitz, whose Fairholme Fund holds one of the largest stakes in the mortgage-finance giants. It’s already been more than four years. Berkowitz, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and several other investors sued the government over its 2012 decision — under the provisions of a crisis-era bailout — to seize all of Fannie and Freddie’s earnings. So far, federal judges have upheld the legality of that profit sweep. Berkowitz said he’d like to see President Donald Trump release Fannie and Freddie from government control and turn them over to shareholders, moves the Obama administration resisted. If Trump’s Treasury Department doesn’t take action quickly, Berkowitz said he’ll bring his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
