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Legends Of Investing: Carl Icahn

This article is more than 9 years old.

This story appears in the June 29, 2014 issue of Forbes. Subscribe

Carl Icahn

Age: 78

Founder, Icahn Enterprises

Indispensible Wisdom: Complain loudly

Inspiration For: Gordon Gekko's line from Wall Street "If you need a friend, get a dog."

Fundamentals: Icahn rose to prominence as a corporate raider in the 1980s, taking hostile control of underperforming companies and ruthlessly cashing in. Now he's been reincarnated as an activist investor, but underneath, the leopard has the same spots. His current MO: Take a minority stake in a listed company, demand board seats and aggressively agitate in the interest of shareholders. Management is often not amused, but the stock usually pops.

Invest Like Icahn: If you want Carl in your corner--and you probably do--you can buy shares in his publicly traded holding company, Icahn Enterprises, which has trounced the S&P 500 since 2000 (22% versus 4%). Among its largest holdings are Apple and Chesapeake Energy , the natural gas producer whose CEO, Aubrey McClendon, Icahn helped push out of the company.