WaMu Cans CEO Killinger

The enduring subprime contagion has claimed another victim, as downtrodden Washington Mutual has forced out CEO Kerry Killinger, reports the Wall Street Journal. Killinger, who has led the nation’s largest thrift since 1990, and has taken it from a small Seattle business into one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, will be replaced by Meridian Capital Group chairman Alan Fishman.

WaMu, which has been clobbered by the collapse of the housing market in the West where it is heavily involved, has seen its stock price decline 85% in the past year and is anticipating mortgage-related writeoffs of up to $19 billion this year. The company has been laying off workers and closing mortgage centers. (More Washington Mutual stories.)