Introduction
Carl Icahn is an American businessman.
Icahn is the founder and CEO of Icahn Enterprises. The conglomerate holding corporation is a diversified conglomerate based in New York City.
Carl Icahn is worth approximately $24 Billion as of July 20, 2022.
Early Life
Carl Celian Icahn was born on 16 February 1936 in New York.
His father, an atheist was a cantor and later served as a substitute teacher. His mother was a schoolteacher.
He was educated at Far Rockaway High School, and he attended Princeton University. There he received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy degree in 1957.
Career
He began his career as a stockbroker after serving in the US military.
In 1968, he established the securities firm ‘Icahn & Co. The company was involved in options trading and risk arbitrage. An uncle gave him a loan amounting to US$ 400,000 to purchase a space on the New York Stock Exchange.
Icahn began buying large shares of individual companies back in 1978. He then became the chairman of TWA, an American major airline, and earned the reputation of being a corporate raider.
Icahn purchased ‘TWA in 1988 for US$ 469million as personal profit. ‘TWA’ remained with a US$540 million debt. He sold the London routes from ‘TWA’ to American Airlines in 1991 for US$ 445million. To sell tickets on ‘TWA,’ he then created ‘lowestfares.com.
He founded the American conglomerate, “Icahn Enterprises”, on February 17, 1987. The company was involved in a variety of industries including energy, automobile parts, casino, metals, and real estate. It also invested in home fashion, food packaging, home fashion, and rail cars. Icahn controlled 89.8% of the company.
Icahn was the chairman and director of several companies including ‘American Railcar Industries, ‘WestPoint Home’, ‘XO Communications’, and ‘Imclone’.
How Does Carl Icahn Use His Money
Carl Icahn uses some of his income to buy real estate.
Icahn also owns properties in Indian Creek and East Hampton.
Highlights
Here are some of the best highlights of Carl Icahn’s career:
- Founder, owner, and chairman of Icahn Enterprises
- Trans World Airlines
- Icahn Partners (2004)
Three Success Lessons From Carl Icahn
Now that we know everything about Carl Icahn’s net worth and how he became successful, let’s see some of the lessons we can take from him.
1. Try to be a value investor and not a speculator.
Carl Icahn understood that stock was a share of a company and not a document. He recommends that you understand the businesses of which stock you wish to invest if you want success in investing. This takes effort and time. But it’s well worth it.
2. What’s currently in fashion is usually wrong
If something is popular, it is most likely wrong in investing. This type of collective opinion is known by herd mentality. Carl warns against the dangers of group thinking. He warns that following a popular trend will lead to its demise and you’ll be in financial ruin.
3. Get Big on Your Best Ideas
You must have a conviction for every stock purchase. Carl Icahn lives this lesson every day. If public activism is an important component of his decision, he will make such purchases. Let your conviction drive your investment.
Favorite Quotes From Carl Icahn
Although we aren’t interested in liquidating businesses, it is possible. We are not going to demolish the factories. It should be possible for the buyer to make it more productive.
False claims that we only care about short-term goals are false. This is what I care about: Seeing these assets in the most capable hands.