Carl Icahn

Carl Celian Icahn (born February 16, ) is an American billionaire financier and activist investor renowned for acquiring significant stakes in undervalued companies and compelling management to implement value-enhancing changes through shareholder pressure, a strategy that pioneered modern corporate activism. After starting his Wall Street career as a stockbroker in and acquiring a New York Stock Exchange seat to form Icahn & Co. in 1968, he built a fortune via targeted interventions, including the 1985 leveraged buyout of Trans World Airlines where he extracted assets for profit amid the carrier's eventual bankruptcy, and later campaigns at firms like Apple, where advocacy for aggressive share buybacks yielded billions in returns. Icahn controls Icahn Enterprises L.P., a holding company spanning energy, automotive, and investment operations, with his net worth estimated at $4.5 billion as of October 2025; his approach, dubbed the "Icahn Lift," often boosts targeted stocks upon disclosure of his involvement due to anticipated reforms. Among controversies, Icahn settled SEC charges in August 2024 for $500,000 without admitting fault over failures to disclose pledges of over $5 billion in company securities as collateral for personal margin loans, an issue amplified by short-seller scrutiny but lacking findings of fraud or deception. He has also funded scientific and educational initiatives, including laboratories at Princeton University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.