Carl Icahn Knows How Pigs Get Pregnant, And Also When Someone Is Trying To Get One Over On Him

Carl Icahn is not known for his soft side, at home, in the office, presumably on the shuffleboard court. But that’s not to say he lacks heartstrings that can be plucked. It’s just that his daughter is apparently better at doing it than his son and heir.

In 2012, McDonald’s Corp. pledged to stop buying pork for its Bacon McDouble cheeseburgers, McRib sandwiches and the like by 2022 from producers who use small crates to constrain pregnant swine. Left unmentioned was that Mr. Icahn had pushed for the change behind the scenes….

Mr. Icahn got involved with the Humane Society of the United States, which is leading the push, at the behest of his daughter, Michelle Icahn Nevin, a vegetarian animal-lover who was working there at the time…. “Animals are one of the things I feel really emotional about,” says Mr. Icahn.

There’s something else that Icahn feels really emotional about, of course, and that is when corporate executives lie to his face.

On a recent phone call with McDonald’s Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski, Mr. Icahn bristled at the company’s interpretation of the pledge, which banned using the stalls to house pregnant sows. “You’re just hiding behind the word pregnant,” Mr. Icahn told the CEO. “When you keep injecting semen into the sow every day, you don’t think she’s going to be pregnant?”

Glad to see Icahn’s medical training hasn’t gone to waste. Of course, he doesn’t feel that emotional about it, at least when it comes to the plight of the pig.

In the case of McDonald’s, he owns only roughly 100 shares, or about $26,000 worth, which he bought recently.

Relentless Wall Street Billionaire Has a Secret Cause [WSJ]

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