Carl Icahn

Carl Icahn
Born	Carl Celian Icahn 16 2, 1936
Birthplace	New York City, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Businessman, investor
Title	Chairman, Icahn Enterprises
Known for	Founding and controlling Icahn Enterprises; activist investing; 1980s "corporate raider"
Education	Princeton University (B.A.)
Spouse(s)	Template:Plainlist
Awards	Forbes 400
Website	[[carlicahn.com carlicahn.com] Official site]

Carl Celian Icahn (born February 16, 1936) is an American businessman, investor, and the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Over a career spanning more than five decades on Wall Street, Icahn built his reputation through aggressive investment strategies, taking large positions in publicly traded companies and pressuring their management to adopt changes he believed would increase shareholder value. His approach in the 1980s, when he executed a hostile takeover of Trans World Airlines and was labeled a "corporate raider," helped define an era of leveraged buyouts and corporate restructuring that reshaped American business. Icahn is credited with pioneering the strategy of activist investing and making it a mainstream approach for hedge funds. He has appeared consistently on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans, though his fortune has fluctuated significantly over the years. As of late 2025, at the age of 89, Icahn remained actively involved in managing his business empire and pursuing new investment opportunities.

Early Life

Carl Celian Icahn was born on February 16, 1936, in the Queens borough of New York City. He grew up in a middle-class Jewish family in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens. His father, Michael Icahn, was a cantor and later a substitute teacher, and his mother, Bella Icahn, also worked as a schoolteacher. The family's modest circumstances instilled in the young Icahn both a drive for financial success and a keen awareness of economic realities.

Icahn attended Far Rockaway High School, a public school in Queens that produced a notable number of future professionals and intellectuals. He demonstrated academic promise from an early age, which enabled him to gain admission to Princeton University, an achievement that represented a significant step for a young man from his socioeconomic background.

Education

Icahn enrolled at Princeton University, where he studied philosophy. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1957, having written his senior thesis on "The Problem of Formulating an Adequate Explication of the Empiricist Criterion of Meaning," a topic rooted in logical empiricism and the philosophy of science. After Princeton, Icahn briefly attended the New York University School of Medicine but did not complete his medical degree, choosing instead to pursue a career in finance. He subsequently entered the world of Wall Street, beginning his long career in the securities industry.

Career

Early Wall Street Career

Icahn began his career on Wall Street in 1961 as a stockbroker. He worked at several firms, gaining experience in trading and securities before establishing his own brokerage firm, Icahn & Co., in 1968. The firm focused on risk arbitrage and options trading, areas that provided Icahn with a deep understanding of corporate valuations, deal structures, and the mechanics of mergers and acquisitions. Through Icahn & Co., he developed expertise in identifying companies whose stock prices did not reflect the underlying value of their assets — a skill that would become the foundation of his investment career.

During the 1970s, Icahn began purchasing significant stakes in undervalued companies and pushing for changes designed to unlock shareholder value. This approach — buying into a company, then agitating for restructuring, asset sales, management changes, or outright acquisition — placed him at the vanguard of what would later be termed activist investing. His early forays into this strategy proved profitable and emboldened him to pursue increasingly ambitious targets.

Trans World Airlines and the "Corporate Raider" Era

Icahn's most defining deal of the 1980s was his hostile takeover of Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1985. He acquired a controlling stake in the airline and became its chairman, a position he used to restructure the company's operations and sell off valuable assets, including its prized London routes. The TWA takeover became one of the most prominent examples of the "corporate raider" phenomenon of the 1980s, an era characterized by leveraged buyouts, hostile takeovers, and aggressive financial engineering. Critics accused Icahn of stripping TWA of its most valuable assets for personal profit while leaving the airline financially weakened. Supporters countered that the company had already been poorly managed and that Icahn's interventions were necessary to extract value for shareholders. TWA ultimately filed for bankruptcy multiple times after Icahn's tenure, fueling debate about the long-term consequences of his stewardship.

The TWA deal cemented Icahn's reputation as one of the most aggressive investors of his generation and placed him alongside figures such as T. Boone Pickens and Nelson Peltz in the pantheon of 1980s corporate raiders. The strategies Icahn employed during this period — leveraged acquisitions, asset stripping, and proxy fights — became widely studied in business schools and widely imitated by a subsequent generation of hedge fund managers.

Icahn Enterprises

Icahn Enterprises, originally known as American Property Investors, evolved into the primary vehicle through which Icahn managed his diverse portfolio of investments. The publicly traded holding company, listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol IEP, held interests in a broad range of industries including energy, automotive, food packaging, metals, real estate, and home fashion. Through Icahn Enterprises, Icahn maintained controlling or significant minority stakes in numerous companies, using the conglomerate structure to diversify his holdings while retaining the flexibility to pursue activist campaigns.

By the third quarter of 2025, Icahn Enterprises' portfolio was valued at approximately $7.89 billion, with the top five holdings accounting for 89.74% of the total portfolio, reflecting Icahn's characteristic preference for concentrated bets on a small number of companies.

Since 2011, Icahn no longer managed money for outside clients, though investors could still gain exposure to his investment strategies by purchasing shares of Icahn Enterprises on the public market.

Major Investments and Activist Campaigns

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Icahn engaged in a series of high-profile activist campaigns targeting some of the largest companies in the United States. His approach typically involved acquiring a significant stake in a company, then publicly or privately pressuring management and the board of directors to implement changes — such as share buybacks, spin-offs, management replacements, or outright sales — that he argued would enhance shareholder value.

Biogen

In 2009, Icahn waged a proxy fight against biotechnology company Biogen, seeking to replace board members and push for a sale of the company. The campaign drew significant attention in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, though Biogen ultimately resisted Icahn's demands.

Apple Inc.

One of Icahn's most closely watched investments was his stake in Apple Inc., which he first disclosed in August 2013 via a message on Twitter, stating that he had taken a "large position" in the company and believed it to be undervalued. By the end of September 2013, Icahn held approximately 39 million shares of Apple. He publicly urged Apple's management to increase its share buyback program, arguing that the company's massive cash reserves were being underutilized. In April 2016, Icahn sold his entire stake in Apple, citing concerns about China's economic slowdown and its potential impact on Apple's sales in the country.

Pep Boys

In December 2015, Icahn took a stake in Pep Boys, the automotive parts retailer, with the intention of exploring deal opportunities for the company. His involvement came amid a bidding war for Pep Boys, which ultimately resulted in a higher acquisition price for the company's shareholders.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas

In 2015, Icahn sought to sell the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, an unfinished luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip that he had acquired out of bankruptcy at a steep discount. The property had been left incomplete after the 2008 financial crisis, and Icahn's efforts to sell it represented an attempt to realize a profit on one of the most prominent distressed-asset deals of the post-crisis era.

Trump Taj Mahal

Icahn also had significant involvement in the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In October 2016, Icahn closed the Trump Taj Mahal following a prolonged standoff with the casino's labor union. The closure came after years of financial difficulties for the property and disputes over workers' benefits and compensation.

Advisory Role in the Trump Administration

In January 2017, Icahn was appointed as Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform by President Donald Trump, who had long maintained a personal relationship with the investor. Icahn served in an informal, unpaid advisory capacity and was not required to divest his holdings or comply with the same ethics rules that governed formal government employees. His role raised significant concerns among government ethics experts, who argued that his position could allow him to influence regulations affecting his own business interests.

A 2017 investigation by The New Yorker described Icahn's role in the administration as a "failed raid on Washington," detailing how his efforts to reshape environmental regulations — particularly those related to the Renewable Fuel Standard — appeared to benefit his refining interests through his majority stake in CVR Energy. Icahn resigned from his advisory position on August 18, 2017, ahead of the publication of an executive order that would have imposed stricter ethics requirements on advisors.

Prior to his formal advisory role, Icahn had been a vocal supporter of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. In October 2015, he announced plans to establish a $150 million super PAC to advocate for corporate tax reform and other business-friendly policies, citing his support for Trump's candidacy. Trump had also publicly named Icahn as someone he would consider for the position of Secretary of the Treasury, though the appointment ultimately went to Steven Mnuchin.

Challenges and Net Worth Decline

Icahn's fortune, which had peaked at approximately $17.5 billion, experienced a significant decline in the mid-2020s. By November 2025, his net worth had fallen to roughly $4.8 billion, representing a decline of nearly 75% from its peak. The drop was precipitated in part by a public battle with short seller Hindenburg Research, which in May 2023 released a report alleging that Icahn Enterprises was significantly overvalued. The report triggered a steep decline in the share price of Icahn Enterprises, which in turn eroded Icahn's personal wealth substantially.

Despite these setbacks, Icahn continued to manage his business empire actively. A November 2025 profile in The Wall Street Journal described the then-89-year-old as still deeply engaged in investment battles, stating that "nothing compares to the thrill of being immersed in a fight."

Personal Life

Carl Icahn has been married twice. His first marriage was to Liba Trejbal, a Czech-born woman, in 1979. The couple divorced in 1999. Icahn married his second wife, Gail Golden, a former broker and assistant, in 1999. That marriage also ended in divorce in 2025.

Icahn has been involved in philanthropic activities over the course of his career. He has made donations to educational causes, including contributions to schools in underserved communities and the founding of the Icahn Charter Schools. He also donated to Princeton University, his alma mater, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai bears his name following a substantial gift.

As of 2025, Icahn maintained residences in New York and Florida. A warehouse property in the Village of Chester, New York, owned by an Icahn Enterprises subsidiary, drew media attention in early 2025 when it was named by the federal government as a potential future facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Recognition

Icahn has appeared consistently on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans. According to Forbes, he maintained a net worth that placed him among the most prominent financiers in the United States, though the precise figure has varied considerably depending on the performance of Icahn Enterprises and his broader portfolio. He was also ranked among the highest-earning hedge fund managers in the industry's annual rankings. In 2013, Forbes included Icahn on its list of the top-earning hedge fund managers.

Icahn has been the subject of extensive media coverage throughout his career. His deals, proxy fights, and public statements have been covered by major financial publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, and Forbes. A 2000 profile in BusinessWeek described him as "the once and future dealmaker," reflecting his enduring presence in American finance across multiple decades.

His activist investing approach has been studied in business and finance courses worldwide. Icahn is credited with helping to establish the legitimacy of shareholder activism as a strategy, demonstrating that outside investors could effect meaningful change at even the largest corporations. His willingness to engage in public confrontations with corporate boards, to wage expensive proxy fights, and to use the media to amplify his campaigns set a template that was subsequently adopted by a generation of activist hedge fund managers.

Legacy

Carl Icahn's career has been marked by both admiration and controversy. His proponents credit him with championing the rights of shareholders, holding corporate managements accountable, and unlocking billions of dollars in value for investors. His critics have argued that his methods prioritized short-term gains over long-term corporate health, pointing to cases such as Trans World Airlines where companies deteriorated following his involvement.

The investment strategy that Icahn pioneered — acquiring significant stakes in public companies and then agitating for change — became one of the most prominent approaches in the hedge fund industry by the 2010s. Funds such as those managed by Bill Ackman, Daniel Loeb, and Paul Singer employed variations of the activist playbook that Icahn helped create. The transformation of shareholder activism from a fringe tactic to a mainstream investment strategy is frequently attributed, at least in part, to Icahn's decades of high-profile campaigns.

Icahn's longevity in the financial industry is itself notable. As of late 2025, at the age of 89, he remained actively involved in running Icahn Enterprises and pursuing new investment positions, a span of activity stretching more than six decades from his start on Wall Street in 1961. His continued engagement in the face of the significant financial setbacks related to the Hindenburg Research short-selling campaign underscored his persistence as a defining trait.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, one of the premier medical institutions in the United States, carries his name, ensuring that his philanthropic contributions to medical education and research extend his public legacy beyond the financial world.