When Carl Icahn Ran a Company: The Story of TWA

Post by alex_c » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 6:42 PM UTC

xpop2027 wrote: post #20

jcampbell1 wrote: post #10

For those that don't know what is going on, here is the backstory: Carl Icahn has recently bought a bunch of ebay stock. He has claimed the company is mismanaged. He has also personally attacked Marc Andreesen. Here is the accusation from Ichan: 1) Marc Andreesen was/is on ebay's board. 2) While on ebay's board, Marc bought most of Skype from eBay. 3) He flipped Skype to Microsoft in less than 2 years, earning himsel…

Reminds me of when Icahn went head to head with Bill Ackman on CNBC.

Post by thematt » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 6:42 PM UTC

whydo wrote: post #27

I hope the folks at Apple are paying attention.

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 6:46 PM UTC

x0x0 wrote: post #29

hnnewguy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Financiers like Icahn are motivated by short term profits above all else. That's one way to look at it. Another is to note that Icahn built a thriving financial company that has survived for over 4 decades, and employs over 60,000 people globally. I'd say that requires long term thinking and demonstrates a bit of business acumen.

that's the only way to look at it; Icahn is a thieving sack of shit. Look at TWA: Icahn got fucking paid no matter whether TWA succeeded or failed. I can maybe see how these leeches ought to get 1/2 billion dollar payouts if they come in and rescue a company, but 0.5B when they ruin a company? Heads I win, tails you lose.

Post by EC1 » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 7:00 PM UTC

x0x0 wrote: post #29

hnnewguy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Financiers like Icahn are motivated by short term profits above all else. That's one way to look at it. Another is to note that Icahn built a thriving financial company that has survived for over 4 decades, and employs over 60,000 people globally. I'd say that requires long term thinking and demonstrates a bit of business acumen.

that's the only way to look at it; Icahn is a thieving sack of shit. Look at TWA: Icahn got fucking paid no matter whether TWA succeeded or failed. I can maybe see how these leeches ought to get 1/2 billion dollar payouts if they come in and rescue a company, but 0.5B when they ruin a company? Heads I win, tails you lose.

Post by ktsmith » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 7:02 PM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #6

Andreeson's defense seems to be that Icahn has had as many conflicts of interest and selfish motives on boards as he has, if not more. I'm not sure that's a good defense: "He's killed twice as many people as I have, and he's been at it longer, too!" When people so alike bicker like this in movies, they're usually about a minute away from kissing.