He accused his grandfather’s widow of insider trading. He was allegedly behind a website trashing an aunt as a “fake Christian.” And he publicly blasted another relative as “a fat slob.”
Before Bill Pulte started targeting President Donald Trump’s political enemies, he practiced on his own family.
He accused his grandfather’s widow of insider trading. He was allegedly the driving force behind a website trashing an aunt as a “fake Christian.” And he publicly blasted another relative as “a fat slob,” “weirdo” and “grifter,” according to court records from a bitter legal feud pursued by Pulte that ensnared PulteGroup, the multibillion-dollar homebuilding giant his grandfather founded.
In any other administration, that background could foreclose the possibility of landing a top government post. But in Trump’s Washington, the attention-seeking and hyper-online millennial has unexpectedly become a major player. The latest measure of his influence came this week when New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who angered Trump with her courtroom pursuits of him, was indicted on bank fraud charges following a protracted campaign by Pulte.
Pulte’s official job is director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he’s entrusted with the dull but critical task of ensuring the soundness of the mortgage market. He has instead transformed the position into a megaphone to denigrate Trump’s perceived political foes. In addition to referring James to the Justice Department for investigation — which Pulte widely publicized — he has probed Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, and Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor appointed by President Joe Biden. Both are now under federal criminal investigation.
James, Schiff and Cook all deny any wrongdoing and say the investigations against them were politically motivated.
After The Associated Press sought comment for this story from Pulte last week, he excoriated the news organization.
“‘The AP’, because we expose alleged Mortgage Fraudsters, is writing a hit piece, filled with falsehoods,” Pulte, 37, wrote on X to his 3 million followers before deleting the post.
A White House spokesman said in a statement that “anyone who engages in criminal activity should be held accountable. No one is above the law. President Trump’s only retribution is success and historic achievements for the American people.”
Members of Pulte’s family and company officials for PulteGroup did not respond to requests for comment.
Pulte’s rise to power and affluence was set in motion in the 1950s when his namesake grandfather William J. Pulte founded Pulte Homes, now known as PulteGroup, near Detroit. By the time Bill Pulte was born in 1988, the publicly traded company was one of the largest homebuilders in the U.S., and his grandfather was on his way to becoming a billionaire.
Pulte grew up in Florida and attended a private high school before enrolling at Northwestern University. When he lost the race for student body president in 2009, he quipped to The Daily Northwestern newspaper: “I guess I can go back to running my helicopter business.” A year after graduating in 2010, he founded his own eponymous investment firm.
But for much of Pulte’s adult life, his identity has been closely intertwined with his family’s legacy company. It’s been a rocky relationship.
In 2016, Pulte and his grandfather led a corporate shakeup that resulted in Pulte being appointed to the company’s board while still in his 20s.
Pulte has not been shy about his plans for power. He has portrayed himself as the head of his family and claimed to be the only true heir to the legacy of his grandfather, who died in 2018, according to court records. He took credit for the company shakeup they led together, predicting that it would “be studied for decades, and maybe, centuries.”
His boasts and online conduct were an area of concern for company officials, according to court records.
In 2019, Pulte began building a massive following on Twitter by giving away money to strangers, actions that drew him a retweet from Trump and fawning press coverage.
