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, Corporate raider |
| Known for | Founding and Managing Icahn Enterprises Leadership of Federal-Mogul 1980s "corporate raider" |
| Signature |  |
Carl Celian Icahn (born February 16, 1936) is an American businessman and investor famous for his role on Wall Street. He is the founder of Icahn Enterprises, a large company that owns many different businesses.
Icahn is known as an activist shareholder. This means he buys large amounts of a company's stock so he can have a say in how the company is run. He pressures the company's leaders to make changes that he believes will increase the company's value.
In the 1980s, he earned the nickname "corporate raider." This term was used for investors who took over companies, sometimes against the will of the company's managers, and then sold off parts of the company for a profit. He is considered one of the most successful investors in history.
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Early Life and Schooling
Carl Icahn was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens. His father was a substitute teacher, and his mother was also a schoolteacher.
He was a good student and went to Princeton University, where he studied philosophy. After graduating in 1957, he attended medical school for two years but decided it wasn't for him. He then joined the Army Reserve.
Business Career
Icahn's journey into the world of finance began in 1961 as a stockbroker. In 1968, he started his own company, Icahn & Co., using his own money and a loan from his uncle. The company focused on smart and sometimes risky trading strategies.
Becoming a Corporate Raider
In the 1980s, Icahn became famous for taking over large companies. One of his most well-known deals was with the airline Trans World Airlines (TWA).
In 1985, he bought a large part of TWA and took full control of the company three years later. To pay back the money he borrowed for the deal, he sold many of TWA's valuable assets, like its routes to London. This practice is called "asset stripping." While Icahn made a large profit, TWA was left with a lot of debt. This deal helped create his reputation as a corporate raider.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he was involved with many other major companies, including U.S. Steel, Texaco, and Marvel Comics.
Investing in Modern Companies
In the 2000s, Icahn continued to invest in well-known companies. He used his influence to push for changes he thought would benefit shareholders.
- Motorola: In 2007, he bought a stake in Motorola and tried to get the company to sell its mobile phone business.
- Yahoo!: In 2008, he bought a large number of shares in Yahoo! after it rejected a takeover offer from Microsoft. He successfully pushed for changes to Yahoo's board of directors.
- Netflix: In 2012, he bought a 10% stake in Netflix. He sold half of his shares a year later for a profit of over $800 million.
- Apple: In 2013, he began investing heavily in Apple Inc., believing the company was worth more than its stock price showed. He urged Apple to buy back more of its own stock to increase its value.
- eBay and PayPal: In 2014, he pushed eBay to spin off PayPal into a separate company, which it eventually did.
In May 2020, Icahn sold his entire stake in the car rental company Hertz. In 2022, he tried to get McDonald's to change how it sources its pork, showing his interest in animal welfare.
Role in Government
In 2016, Carl Icahn supported Donald Trump for president. After Trump was elected, Icahn was named a special advisor on regulatory reform. Regulations are rules that businesses have to follow. Icahn's job was to advise the president on how to change these rules, but he was not an official government employee.
He stepped down from this role in August 2017. He said he did not want his business interests to interfere with the government's work.
Personal Life
Icahn has been married twice. He has two children, Brett and Michelle, from his first marriage. His son, Brett, also works as an investor. In 1999, he married Gail Golden, his longtime assistant.
Charity and Donations
Carl Icahn has given away hundreds of millions of dollars to various causes. He has made large donations to schools and medical research.
- He funded the Carl C. Icahn Laboratory at Princeton University.
- He gave a large amount of money to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, which was renamed the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in his honor.
- He supports charter schools, which are public schools that are run independently.
- His foundation, the Children's Rescue Fund, runs shelters for homeless families in New York City.
In 2010, Icahn signed the Giving Pledge, a promise made by some of the world's wealthiest people to give away most of their fortune to charity.
Horse Racing
In 1985, Icahn started a horse breeding business called Foxfield Thoroughbreds. His horse, Meadow Star, won the 1990 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and was named the best two-year-old female horse of the year. He closed the business in 2004 to focus on his other work.
In the Media
The famous movie character Gordon Gekko from the 1987 film Wall Street was partly inspired by Carl Icahn. Gekko's famous "greed is good" speech was based on a real speech Icahn gave to shareholders.
In 2022, a documentary about his life called Icahn: The Restless Billionaire was released on HBO.
See also
In Spanish: Carl Icahn para niños
- List of people and organisations named in the Paradise Papers
