Carl Icahn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carl Icahn
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Icahn at a conference in the 1980s
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| Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform | |
| In office January 20, 2017 – August 18, 2017 |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Carl Celian Icahn
February 16, 1936 New York City, U.S. |
| Spouses |
Liba Trejbal
(m. 1979; div. 1999)Gail Golden
(m. 1999) |
| Children | 2, including Brett |
| Relatives | Rick Schnall (nephew) |
| Education | Princeton University (BA) |
| Occupation | Businessman, investor, philanthropist |
| Known for | Founding and Managing Icahn Enterprises Leadership of Federal-Mogul 1980s "corporate raider" |
| Signature |  |
Carl Celian Icahn (born February 16, 1936) is a famous American businessman and investor. He is the founder of Icahn Enterprises, a large company that owns many different businesses.
Mr. Icahn's way of investing is unique. He buys a lot of shares in companies he thinks can do better. Then, he pushes the company leaders to make changes that will help the company grow and make money for everyone who owns shares, including him. This is why he is known as an "activist shareholder". He helped make this way of investing popular for big investment funds.
In the 1980s, he gained a reputation as a "corporate raider". This meant he would take over companies, sometimes against their will, and then sell off parts of them to make a profit. One famous example was Trans World Airlines.
Carl Icahn is one of the richest people in the world. He has a net worth of about $6.7 billion to $7 billion. Since 2011, Mr. Icahn mostly invests his own money. But people can still invest in his company, Icahn Enterprises.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Carl Icahn was born in Brooklyn, New York, into a Jewish family. He grew up in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens. He went to Far Rockaway High School. His father was a cantor (a singer in a synagogue) and later a substitute teacher. His mother was also a schoolteacher.
He graduated from Princeton University in 1957, where he studied philosophy. After Princeton, he started medical school at New York University School of Medicine. However, he left after two years to join the military.
Business Career
Starting Out (1961–2005)
In 1961, Mr. Icahn began his career as a stockbroker. He worked for different companies, learning about the stock market.
In 1968, he started his own company, Icahn & Co. He used $150,000 of his own money and $400,000 from his uncle. His company focused on trading stocks and options.
One of his most famous deals was with Trans World Airlines (TWA). In 1985, he bought 50% of the airline. By 1988, he fully owned the company. He then sold off parts of TWA, like its routes to London, to pay back his loans. This helped him make a profit of $469 million. However, TWA was left with a lot of debt.
He also tried to take over U.S. Steel in 1986 but was not successful. Still, he sold his shares later for a $200 million profit. In 1989, he sold his shares in Texaco for $2 billion, making a $700 million profit.
In 1997, Mr. Icahn took control of Marvel Comics. He also bought a large stake in RJR Nabisco and pushed the company to split its tobacco and food businesses.
Later Investments (2005–2015)
In 2005, Icahn started a large investment fund called Icahn Partners. He bought shares in well-known companies like Blockbuster Video and Time Warner.
He also invested in XO Communications, a telecommunications company. He was the chairman and a major shareholder. In 2008, a deal he proposed for XO was blocked by other shareholders due to a conflict of interest.
In 2006, he bought shares in Take-Two Interactive, a video game company. He became their second-largest shareholder. In 2007, he invested in Telik, a biotech company, and WCI Communities, a homebuilder.
Mr. Icahn also owned several casinos in Nevada, including the Stratosphere Las Vegas. In 2007, he sold these casinos for $1.3 billion, making a large profit.
In 2008, he bought a lot of shares in Yahoo!. He pushed for changes after Yahoo! turned down a takeover offer from Microsoft. He helped change Yahoo!'s board of directors.
He continued to make big investments. In 2010, he bought the Fontainebleau Las Vegas hotel for about $150 million. He also helped buy the Tropicana Casino & Resort Atlantic City.
In 2011, he tried to buy Clorox for $10.2 billion but was unsuccessful. In 2012, he bought a 10% stake in Netflix. He sold about half of his Netflix shares in 2013, making over $800 million in less than a year.
In 2013, he also bought shares in Apple Inc. and Talisman Energy. In 2014, he pushed eBay to separate its PayPal business into its own company, which happened later that year.
Recent Activities (Since 2015)
In 2015, Mr. Icahn invested $100 million in Lyft, a ride-sharing company. He also swapped his shares in eBay for shares in PayPal. He bought a stake in Xerox and offered to buy Pep Boys, an auto parts company.
In 2016, he sold his shares in Apple, saying he was worried about Apple's business in China. He also increased his investment in Herbalife Nutrition.
In October 2016, he closed the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City. He said the casino had lost a lot of money, and he couldn't reach a deal with striking workers. This led to nearly 3,000 people losing their jobs.
In 2020, Mr. Icahn sold all his shares in The Hertz Corporation, a car rental company. He lost almost $2 billion on this investment.
In 2022, he tried to get two people elected to McDonald's board of directors. He wanted McDonald's to improve how pigs are raised by its suppliers. However, most shareholders did not vote for his nominees.
In May 2023, a research company called Hindenburg Research said that Icahn's public company, Icahn Enterprises, might be worth less than people think. They claimed the company was paying large dividends using money from new investors. This caused the share price of Icahn Enterprises to drop by 20% on that day.
Public Policy and Economic Views
Carl Icahn supported Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election. He also promised to spend $150 million to push for changes in corporate taxes. He wanted to stop companies from moving their headquarters out of the U.S. to pay lower taxes elsewhere.
In December 2016, it was announced that Mr. Icahn would be a special advisor to President Donald Trump on regulatory reform. He worked in this role without being a federal employee, so he did not have to give up his business interests. He stepped down from this role in August 2017.
Personal Life
Carl Icahn married Liba Trejbal in 1979. They had two children, Brett Icahn and Michelle Celia Icahn Nevin. They divorced in 1999. Later in 1999, Mr. Icahn married his longtime assistant, Gail Golden. She has two children from a previous marriage.
Philanthropy
Carl Icahn has given a lot of money to different causes. Several places are named after him because of his generous donations:
- Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island in New York City.
- The Carl C. Icahn Center for Science and the Icahn Scholar Program at Choate Rosemary Hall, a prep school. This program helps pay for 10 students' education each year.
- The Carl C. Icahn Laboratory at Princeton University, his old college, which is a genomics lab.
- He has also given large amounts to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. A building there is named the Icahn Medical Institute. In 2013, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine was renamed the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
His foundation, the Children's Rescue Fund, built Icahn House in The Bronx. This complex provides homes for homeless families. It also runs Icahn House East and Icahn House West, which are homeless shelters in New York City.
In 2010, Mr. Icahn joined the Giving Pledge. This means he promised to give away more than half of his wealth to charity. He also works with groups like the Humane Society of the United States to improve animal welfare.
In the Media
Carl Icahn is featured in a 2022 HBO documentary called Icahn: The Restless Billionaire.
Awards and Honors
Carl Icahn has received several awards for his work and contributions:
- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1984.
- Starlight Foundation – Founders Award & 1990 Man of the Year Award.
- Guardian Angel 2001 Man of the Year.
- In 2004, he was honored for his work with charter schools.
- In 2006, he received the 100 Women in Hedge Funds Effecting Change Award for helping improve education.
Thoroughbred Horse Racing
In 1985, Carl Icahn started Foxfield Thoroughbreds, a company that bred racehorses. He bought some very expensive mares (female horses) for breeding.
His horse, Meadow Star, won a major race called the 1990 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. She was also named the best two-year-old female horse in America that year.
In 1992, Foxfield stopped racing horses and focused only on breeding. They bred over 140 horses that won important races. In 2004, Mr. Icahn closed Foxfield and sold all his horses.
Images for kids
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Carl Icahn's signature
See also
In Spanish: Carl Icahn para niños
- List of people and organisations named in the Paradise Papers
