Talk:Carl Icahn/Archives/2013

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Where did he earn his first bucket of gold? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.173.125.74 (talk • contribs)

This is an ancient comment, but here's a quick response (This article is on my To Do list): He dropped out of med school because he couldn't handle blood, then ran off and joined the army because it was the only way he could get away from his mother. While he was in the army he won several thousand dollars playing poker and invested it in a bull market we had going on. Then he lost it all and went back to playing poker for a while. Chris Croy 07:26, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Recent developments

Is the sentence "But he was promptly turned down by the majority of the stock holders in the election for Board Directors which was held on May 8th." accurate? The word promptly has a special connotation that isn't supported.Goodpaster (talk) 20:38, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

I disagree that this section should be changed to prose. It's essentially a list of what Icahn has been up to in terms of his acquisitions, and it is easier to track as a list than it would be in prose.

The only reason I can think of to convert to prose would be to write additional information on each move. Often it seems that there isn't sufficient public information to provide this. PatriciaT (talk) 16:50, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Undue weight

I would say the quote accusing him of being "of the lowest character and no integrity" being in the biography section is undue weight.--Michael White^T·C 21:13, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

It was certainly out of order, coming right after "He was raised" in NYC. The viewpoint has certainly been expressed by people more important than a congressman, so I think something like that is fair game. Go ahead and do what you think is best. Smallbones (talk) 04:52, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Right

So, we should put weasel words on this thing. What Icahn is famous for is for his corporate raiding -- the movie Wallstreet heavily relied on his shortsighted "Fuck em, get money, leave" strategy. I don't know why that isn't the prominant feature, but really, that' s who he is. He made junk bonds and used them to exploit people. It's not an opinion, it's content being expressed.

Agreed. Even as weaselly as this article currently is, it's abundantly clear that this is a guy who has spent his entire life going around breaking things so he can get more money. What kind of a life is that? Is it worthy of recording at all, without some kind of editorial comment? Maybe the bio should be subsumed into an article on corporate raiders tout court.Theonemacduff (talk) 20:21, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

Agreed. I would love to see more on this. An article on a prominent Wall Street entreprenuer should be balanced and mention some of the controversies he's been involved in or some of the more controversial aspects of his career. It doesn't (and shouldn't) need to put him down. It just needs to paint a more accurate and substantiated picture of who he is. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.123.198.29 (talk) 19:01, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Carl Icahn on Barack Obama

Regarding this addition: On May 22, 2008 Carl Icahn spoke out against 2008 Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama saying that Obama would be a "terrible president who would wreck the economy." Since when is Carl Icahn in any way a notable voice with respect to American politics? What did he think of John Kerry, by the way? Does anyone care? Switzpaw (talk) 22:19, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

In 2004, he chipped a couple thousand into John Kerry's campaign fund. He also donated thousands more to various republican candidates, although I don't recall him ever publicly speaking out during the 2004 election. In June 2007, CNN quoted him in an article discussing what Big Business(tm) thought of the presidential candidates:

Carl Icahn Billionaire investor and activist "Republicans have to pick the candidate most likely to beat Hillary Clinton. Rudy is the one."

Since then, he's donated almost exclusively to the Democratic party. This particular story of Icahn plinking at Obama was reported not just in a couple blogs, but by major news outlets - Bloomberg, the New York Times, and the AP wire, among many, many others. It's probably the most widely reported thing he's said or done in years. Chris Croy (talk) 10:16, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Disagree with you about this being the most widely reported thing he's said or done in years -- the MS/Yahoo story was big business news. But you're right, this is notable. The Bloomberg article was more informative so I changed the ref to include it instead. Switzpaw (talk) 23:05, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Motorola

Hey Carl, Can you give us all a break? Forget about Yahoo. they are going down the tubes. it was a bad investment on your part. It's over. Please focus on those fools at Motorola. You need to bust this company up & sell it off piece by piece. HELP !!!

Mike Legendre —Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.32.192.33 (talk) 15:19, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

"See also" section

I am not sure I can a connection between Carl Icahn and many of the articles that appear in the See also section. Am I the only one? Ottawahitech (talk) 02:38, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

1980s

Hardly any mention is made of his activity in the 1980s which is when he became famous. Sanitizing history perhaps? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.223.87.129 (talk) 23:28, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

==

You mean where he forced a takeover of ACF Industries, and split it up, selling off WKM Valve, Carter Carburetor, and several oil fields? Then, he buys TWA, and ruins them, then sticks ACF with TWA's pension debt? Next, he builds two new plants in Arkansas, telling the employees at ACF, in Huntington, WV., and Milton, PA., that they were only for repairs, and to keep up with orders, only to then shut both old plants down, lay off all the union workers, and rename the new plants American Railcar, while paying the men there half the wages he did at the northern plants? Then, make a phone call to the V.P of the Steel Workers local union in Huntington, and use the call to create a law suit to screw the retirees out of their insurance?

However, they did mention a little about US Steel, where he wanted them to get his hands on Marathon Oil, and then piece mill sell off US Steel? They've beat him on that one, a couple of times.

The man is a worthless and immoral human being, and really does not deserve much of an article, especially any praise for what he has done.Craxd (talk) 04:20, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

No Story Behind his Wealth

I find it strange that there is no story here about how Icahn first became wealthy. There is typically some point in time where someone 'strikes it rich' or somehow they build, and make a lot of money, on one or more particular ventures. The article here doesn't tell Icahn's story of how he came to become wealthy. It simply says he started a company and then began trying to take up large stakes/positions in various companies and became known for his hostile takeovers... well, how did he ever get to the point where he could afford to purchase $10M+ in stock?!? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.113.171.29 (talk) 04:15, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

I don't find it strange given the description of Icahn. :) 95.148.227.169 (talk) 04:42, 16 May 2013 (UTC)