Carl Icahn Biography
Carl Icahn is an American businessman and investor. Icahn Enterprises, a public firm and diversified conglomerate holding company situated in New York City is his creation and controlling shareholder. Icahn buys big shares in firms he feels would profit from changes in corporate policy, then puts pressure on management to make changes that will benefit shareholders. He was one of the earliest activist shareholders, and he is credited with popularizing activist investing among hedge funds.
How old is Carl Icahn? – Age
He is 86 years old as of 16 February 2022. He was born in 1936 in Queens, New York, United States. His real name is Carl Celian Icahn.
Carl Icahn Family – Education
He grew up in New York City’s Far Rockaway area, where he attended Far Rockaway High School. Michael Icahn, a “sworn atheist” who was a cantor and then a substitute teacher, was his father. Bella (née Schnall), his mother, was also a schoolteacher. After completing a senior thesis titled “The Problem of Formulating an Adequate Explication of the Empiricist Criterion of Meaning,” Icahn received an A.B. in philosophy from Princeton University in 1957. He then enrolled in the New York University School of Medicine, but after two years, he dropped out to join the military reserve.
Who is Carl Icahn’s Wife? – Children
Icahn met Liba Trejbal, a ballerina from former Czechoslovakia, in the summer of 1978. Eight months later, she fell pregnant, and Icahn offered to marry her if she signed a prenuptial agreement. In March of 1979, they tied the knot. Liba filed for divorce in October 1993, claiming that she signed the prenuptial agreement under duress because of the pregnancy. In July 1999, the divorce was finalized. Gail Golden, Icahn’s longtime assistant, and former broker married him in 1999. Her previous marriage resulted in the birth of two children.
Carl Icahn Son and Daughter
He has two children from his marriage with Liba; a son Brett Icahn a businessman, investor, and philanthropist who was born on born August 19, 1979, and a daughter Michelle Celia Icahn.
Carl Icahn House
According to Anna Sherill of One Sotheby’s International Realty, the mansion was purchased by Robert Coward and Bradley Jones. Sherrill represented the purchasers, while Nickel Goeseke of Cervera Real Estate represented the selling. The buyers intend to reside at the property full time, according to Sherrill. According to property records, MB 2103 LLC, a Delaware LLC affiliated with Icahn, bought the property out of bankruptcy in 2014.
How did Icahn make his money? – Career
Icahn started his career as a stockbroker for Dreyfus Corporation in 1961. He founded Icahn & Co. in 1968, which specialized in risk arbitrage and options trading. In 1978, he purchased a controlling stake in Tappan and forced the sale to Electrolux in his first takeover effort. He purchased 50% of Trans World Airlines in 1985 by pooling his cash with investor funds and funds borrowed from banks. He bought the company outright in a leveraged buyout in 1988.
He made a $469 million profit while leaving TWA with a $540 million debt. In 1986, Icahn attempted an unsuccessful hostile takeover of 89 percent of U.S. Steel for $8 billion. He made a $200 million profit when he sold his part in the company for $1 billion in 1991. In a rivalry with Ronald Perelman, he seized ownership of Marvel Comics in 1997. He headed a group of investors that bought a 5% share in RJR Nabisco in 1998 and pressed management to split the tobacco and food divisions.
In 2005, XO Communications announced its intention to sell the wired portion of the business to Icahn, who was then chairman and a major shareholder, for $700 million. Despite Icahn’s overwhelming ownership and the board of directors pronouncing the transaction to be in the best interests of shareholders, R2 and other minority shareholders successfully halted the acquisition through the courts. Icahn sold his Nevada casino interests to Goldman Sachs in April 2007 for $1.3 billion, or $1 billion more than he bought for them. He sued Motorola in March 2008 in an attempt to win seats on the company’s board of directors and force the sale of its mobile business. He entered a proxy battle for Amylin in February 2009, offering to buy the XO shares he didn’t already control for $0.55 each. He was part of a group of lenders who bought the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City for $200 million, bringing it out of bankruptcy.
In May 2010, Icahn owned 6.9% of Mentor Graphics, which he increased to 14 percent in July 2011. Icahn was named one of the top 40 hedge fund managers by Forbes in February 2013. In August 2013, he sued Dell and its board of directors in an attempt to derail Michael Dell’s $24.4 billion acquisition deal in favor of his own alleged upcoming bid. In October 2013, Icahn owned 4.7 million Apple Inc. shares. Carl Icahn, a billionaire businessman, sold the unfinished Fontainebleau Resort Las Vegas in August 2017 for $600 million, more than four times what he paid for it in May 2015. He closed the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City in October 2016, alleging a $350 million loss over several years and an inability to negotiate an agreement with striking union workers. In May 2020, he sold his whole 39 percent position in Hertz Global for 72 cents a share, a loss of about $2 billion.
What is Carl Icahn’s net worth?
He has an estimated net worth of 16.4 billion USD.
