Carl Icahn

Carl Icahn has been one of the most feared and influential investors in corporate America for more than four decades. He rose to prominence in the 1980s through a series of hostile takeover attempts, including a famous battle for TWA Airlines. His acquisition, restructuring, and sale or dividending of companies earned him a reputation as a "corporate raider" — a term he eventually transformed into a more respectable "activist investor." Icahn has taken large positions in hundreds of companies over his career, including Apple, Dell, eBay, Hertz, and many others, typically pushing for strategic changes, management replacements, or outright sales. He manages his empire through Icahn Enterprises, a publicly traded holding company. His decades of high-profile proxy fights and board campaigns helped establish the legal and practical framework for shareholder activism in US public markets, influencing how corporate boards evaluate their strategic alternatives and respond to large concentrated shareholder positions.