The month of May is American Jewish History Month, so for this entire month I will continue share the stories of important Jewish figures in American finance. Today, I will share the story of Carl Ichan, one of the first and most successful corporate raiders.
Carl Icahn, was born on February 16, 1936, in Queens, New York, and was raised in a Jewish family. His father was a cantor and teacher, while his mother was also an educator. Icahn graduated from Princeton University with a degree in philosophy before briefly attending New York University School of Medicine, which he left to join the U.S. Army.
Icahn’s career began in 1961 as a stockbroker at Dreyfus Corporation. In 1968, he borrowed $400,000 from his uncle to purchase a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, founding Icahn & Company, which specialized in risk arbitrage and options trading.
Icahn's business model is to take large stakes in companies that he believes will appreciate from changes to corporate policy; he then pressures management to make the changes that he believes will benefit shareholders, and himself. Widely regarded as one of the most successful hedge fund managers of all time and one of the greatest investors on Wall Street, he was one of the first, corporate raiders, now known by the more politically correct term of “activist shareholders” and is credited with making that investment strategy mainstream for hedge funds.
His first major success came in 1978, when he acquired a stake in Tappan Company, later selling it to AB Electrolux for a significant profit.
During the 1980s, Icahn became known as a corporate raider, taking substantial stakes in companies like Texaco, US Steel, and Trans World Airlines (or TWA). His aggressive investment strategies often led to accusations of greenmail, where he pressured companies to buy back shares at a premium. More recently, he made investments in and exerted his influence on major corporations such as Apple, Netflix, and eBay.
Icahn is on the Forbes 400 list and has a net worth of approximately $6 billion.
American Jewish History Month: Recognizing Carl Icahn
