Carl Icahn

Carl Icahn is the original corporate raider — the prototype for activist investing before the term was invented. Born in Queens, New York in 1936, he studied philosophy at Princeton and briefly attended NYU medical school before deciding Wall Street was more interesting. He began his career as a stockbroker and options trader, then pivoted to buying large stakes in underperforming companies and aggressively demanding change. In the 1980s he was part of a wave of corporate raiders that transformed American corporate governance.

Icahn has targeted dozens of major corporations over five decades — TWA, Texaco, Time Warner, Motorola, Apple, Dell, eBay, Xerox, and many more — pushing for management changes, buybacks, spinoffs, and sales. His approach is adversarial where necessary and has earned him both admiration and contempt on Wall Street. His holding company Icahn Enterprises trades publicly and gives investors direct exposure to his investment approach. In recent years he has faced significant challenges, including a critical short report by Hindenburg Research in 2023 that scrutinized IEP's valuation.