William J Popejoy

Popejoy, 75, is among five independent trustees who oversee 88 Pimco funds on behalf of investors, and heads the board's governance committee. A onetime union shop steward, he became the first president of mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac. He later held executive roles at a series of high-profile financial firms controlled by such major entrepreneurs and investors as Mark Taper, David Murdock and Robert M. Bass. He took half a year off as a Pimco trustee in 1995, when Orange County — then bankrupted by ill-advised investments — hired him as an emergency chief executive to restore stability.