Business
May 24, 2023 | 9:01 p.m
Bill Ackman on Wednesday took aim at old rival Carl Icahn in a broadside attack that questioned the valuation of the flagship company of the famous activist investor, whose company has become a target of short seller Hindenburg Research.
In a scathing and lengthy Twitter post, Ackman wrote that he was “intrigued” by the situation between the short seller and Icahn Enterprises (IEP), noting that the company’s premium has been supported by a strong dividend yield.
“Return is generated by returning capital to outside shareholders, which in turn is funded by the company selling stock to investors,” Ackman said, adding that the system relies heavily on “maintaining the premium and the Serenity depends on Icahn’s margin lenders. S).”
Ackman, founder and chief executive officer of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, said the situation has put Icahn’s funds at risk.
“$IEP reminds me a bit of Archegos, where the swap counterparties took comfort in the fact that each was relatively less affected by the situation,” Ackman said, referring to Bill Hwang’s company, which blew up in 2021.
“Icahn has made many enemies throughout his storied career,” tweeted Bill Ackman. “I don’t know if he has real friends. He could use one here.” Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
“All it takes is for a lender to break ranks and liquidate interests or try to hedge before the house collapses,” he added. “Here the scapegoat is the last lender to liquidate.”
Icahn Enterprises shares have fallen more than 50% since the Hindenburg report was released on May 2nd.
The stock fell more than 13% on Wednesday, hitting its lowest level in more than 14 years.
Icahn has personally lost $15 billion – his net worth has gone from $25 billion to $10 billion.
See more
I was fascinated by that @HindenburgRes $IEP situation, and there are some interesting insights here. For example, you learn from $IEP that a controlling shareholder of a company with a small free float paying a large dividend can cause their company to trade at a high price…
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) May 24, 2023
This scathing Twitter post stunned Icahn, The Post has learned.
“I don’t know what to do about it,” Icahn told The Post shortly after the tweet went live.
Icahn, 87, refused to elaborate on why Ackman would carry out such a public attack, suggesting he could release a statement later.
Carl Icahn has personally lost $15 billion – his net worth has gone from $25 billion to $10 billion. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
A spokesman for Bill Ackman’s fund Pershing Square Capital Management declined further comment.
Ackman closed the tweet with a nod to one of Icahn’s favorite sayings: “If you want a boyfriend, get a dog.”
Then the Icahn nemesis went one step further: “Icahn has made many enemies throughout his storied career. I don’t know that he has real friends. He could use one here.”
The short-seller report noted that the Icahn company’s current 15% dividend yield is among the richest on Wall Street — and claimed that it’s “completely unsupported by IEP’s cash flow and investment performance, which has been negative for years.” “.
Carl Icahn (left) and Bill Ackman seemed to have buried the hatchet at a 2014 conference. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Icahn has vowed to stand up to Hindenburg, who accused IEP of overvaluing its shares and relying on a “Ponzi-like” structure to pay dividends.
Icahn called Hindenburg’s report “self-serving” and reiterated his defense of the company.
“If that bothers you, then you shouldn’t be in this business,” Icahn told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
On May 10, IEP said it had been contacted by US prosecutors and posted a surprise quarterly loss in the first quarter.
The bad blood between the moguls dates back two decades to a dispute over a 2003 deal with Hallwood Realty.
It got worse in 2013, when Ackman and Icahn got into a now-infamous feud on CNBC, with both men venting insults. Ackman lost money on his $1 billion short bet against Icahn’s Herbalife.
“This is not a guy who keeps his word. “This is a guy who takes advantage of little people,” Ackman said of Icahn at the time.
The two appeared to bury the hatchet a year later when they were photographed hugging at an investor conference.
Load More…
{{#isDisplay}} {{/isDisplay}}{{#isAniviewVideo}} {{/isAniviewVideo}}{{#isSRVideo}} {{/isSRVideo}}
https://nypost.com/2023/05/24/bill-ackman-reignites-feud-with-nemesis-carl-icahn-after-hindenburg-report/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons
Copy the URL to share