In May, Layton was named CEO of Freddie Mac, the struggling government-sponsored mortgage-funding company. Layton, a veteran executive with decades of experience at JPMorgan Chase and E*Trade, is Freddie Mac’s fourth CEO since it was put under a conservatorship of the federal government during the economic collapse of 2008. “Layton is stepping into a role that other executives might see reason to avoid,” according to the Washington Post, not only because of the “measly” $600,000 salary (chump change to high-powered execs), but because the Obama administration and Republican Congressman alike have proposed shutting down Freddie Mac and its sibling Fannie Mae entirely. As Fortune put it plainly, “Layton has his work cut out for him.”