Carl Celian Icahn (; born February 16, 1936) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Icahn's business model is to take large stakes in companies that he believes will appreciate from changes to corporate policy. Subsequently, Icahn then pressures management to make the changes that he believes will benefit shareholders, and him. 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 activist shareholders and is credited with making that investment strategy mainstream for hedge funds.
In the 1980s, Icahn developed a reputation as a "corporate raider" after profiting from the hostile takeover and asset stripping of Trans World Airlines.
Icahn is on the Forbes 400 and has a net worth of approximately $6.7 billion to $7 billion.
Since 2011, Icahn no longer manages money for outside clients. Investors can still invest in Icahn Enterprises.
