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Carl Icahn Won’t Play Chess With His Son Anymore, But May Let Him Manage Money Again

Carl Icahn Won’t Play Chess With His Son Anymore, But May Let Him Manage Money Again

With Dad’s approval, of course, until six or seven years after he’s dead.

With Dad’s approval, of course, until six or seven years after he’s dead.

Here’s a heartwarming paternal anecdote about one Carl C. Icahn: For years, although he prefers poker, the legendary investor set aside Sundays to play some (for him) rather low-stakes games of chess with his son, Brett. Last year, he stopped. You can guess why.

The two for years played Sunday-evening matches, but they stopped about a year ago after Brett consistently won, at times costing his father as much as $20,000 in lost wagers.

In spite of that arguably less-than-admirable bit of parenting, it must be said that Icahn has a soft spot for his 40-year-old boy. After all, he’s probably never admitted to being wrong as often as to Brett, an unpleasant task undoubtedly made much easier by all of the billions Brett has earned for his old man.

Indeed, Icahn seems ready to accept even more of his son’s wisdom. The plan to move everyone and everything to Miami and work from the beach was, after all, originally Brett’s—one that Icahn ruthlessly shot down five years ago—even if Dad is making hipster-sounding noises about how New York isn’t what it used to be. And while, as we’ll see, he still drives a hard bargain with his less-activist-inclined child, he’s also ready to start handing over the family business, at some unspecified time in the distant future, of course.

Mr. Icahn says Brett is the “leading candidate” to take over the firm—once Mr. Icahn is ready to let go, which he doesn’t seem to be just yet. “I’m not going to give up making the real decisions,” Mr. Icahn says. “I’m still in charge, but he’d get a piece of the action….” For over a year on and off, father and son have been negotiating an arrangement that has already stretched to a roughly 90-page contract….

At the new fund, Brett will be required to put a small percentage of his own money into each investment and is contemplating buying $25 million worth of Icahn Enterprises shares. His father will likely have the final say over investments under the arrangement.

Carl Icahn Is Nearing Another Landmark Deal. This Time It’s With His Son. [WSJ]

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Ten years ago, Carl Icahn hired his son Brett to be an analyst at Icahn Enterprises and the kid didn't fuck anything up so he got to keep his job. Two year ago, Carl gave Brett and another employee, David Schechter, $300 million to invest under the "Sargon portfolio," and the guys returned 96 percent (before fees) through June. Last month, Carl tossed the duo an additional $3 billion and a contract that expires in 2016, at which time Papa Icahn will either officially Brett a worthy successor or offer to serve as a reference for his next gig. Under a 46-page legal agreement filed with federal regulators last month, Brett Icahn and Schechter will get to invest their boss’s capital in companies with stock market values between $750 million and $10 billion. The deal may free the elder Icahn, who still has final say over many aspects of the portfolio, to focus on larger targets for shareholder activism. Brett, who turns 33 this month, along with Schechter has been running $300 million for his father, who owns more than 90 percent of Icahn Enterprises LP, a holding company with $24 billion in assets including activist investing partnerships as well as the Tropicana casinos, an oil refiner and an auto-parts maker. The arrangement expires after Carl turns 80 in 2016, giving Brett the chance to both prove his mettle as a successor and develop a track record to start his own hedge fund. After hiring Brett as an investment analyst a decade ago, Icahn allocated the $300 million to his son and Schechter in April 2010 to invest in loans and securities of companies with less than $2 billion in equity value. Their investments, internally dubbed the Sargon portfolio, generated a gross cumulative gain of 96 percent by the end of June, according to a July 27 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...“These two guys doubled our money over the last two years,” the elder Icahn said in an interview. “You can’t complain about that.” Carl Icahn Hands Son Brett $3 Billion To Prove His Mettle [Bloomberg]

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