Carl Icahn famous quotes

06-14-2025

Some people get rich studying artificial intelligence. Me, I make money studying natural stupidity.
-- Carl Icahn

#People #Stupidity #Study
When friends and acquaintances are telling you that you are a genius, before you accept their opinion, take a moment to remember what you always thought of their opinions in the past.
-- Carl Icahn

#Past #Genius #Opinion
A great company in the media business needs visionary leaders, not a conglomerate structure headquartered in Columbus Circle that second guesses.
-- Carl Icahn

#Media #Circles #Leader
CEOs are paid for doing a terrible job. If the system wasn't so messed up, guys like me wouldn't make this kind of money.
-- Carl Icahn

#Jobs #Guy #Kind
My wife watches me like a hawk.
-- Carl Icahn

#Wife #Watches #Hawks
I can tell you how bad our boards are... I don't have to watch Saturday Night Live anymore; I just go to the board meetings.
-- Carl Icahn

#Night #Funny Graduation #Watches
We have bloated bureaucracies in Corporate America. The root of the problem is the absence of real corporate democracy.
-- Carl Icahn

#Real #Roots #America
Too often it's not the most creative guys or the smartest. Instead, it's the ones who are best at playing politics and soft-soaping their bosses. Boards don't like tough, abrasive guys.
-- Carl Icahn

#Intelligent #Creative #Guy
I enjoy the hunt much more than the 'good life' after the victory.
-- Carl Icahn

#Good Life #Victory #Enjoy
I believe there are and will be major opportunities to enhance Time Warner's value in future combinations.
-- Carl Icahn

#Positive #Believe #Opportunity
I like winning. There's also a certain joy in it. I feel fulfilled by it.
-- Carl Icahn

#Winning #Joy #Certain
Don't go in and tell somebody else how to run their business.
-- Carl Icahn

#Running
Had a nice conversation with Tim Cook today. Discussed my opinion that a larger buyback should be done now. We plan to speak again shortly.
-- Carl Icahn

#Nice #Done #Today
Reuters was completely accurate that I am concerned about the level of the market. But I also made it clear on the conference call (and I believe as Reuters reported it), that it is almost impossible to predict what a market will do in the short term. There are too many variables.
-- Carl Icahn

#Believe #Levels #Variables
Yellenâ€™s comments suggest, and I agree, that we are in an asset bubble.
-- Carl Icahn

#Assets #Comment #Agree
I have to look out for the shareholderâ€™s interests, and Iâ€™m the largest shareholder.
-- Carl Icahn

#Looks #Interest #Shareholders
In life and business, there are two cardinal sins. The first is to act precipitously without thought and the second is to not act at all.
-- Carl Icahn

#Business #Two #Firsts
A lot of people died fighting tyranny. The least I can do is vote against it.
-- Carl Icahn

#Fighting #People #Vote
We want these assets to be productive. We buy them. We own them. To say we care only about the short term is wrong. What I care about is seeing these assets in the best hands
-- Carl Icahn

#Hands #Want #Care
When most investors, including the pros, all agree on something, they're usually wrong.
-- Carl Icahn

#Agree #Investors
Anyone that makes me a quarter of a billion dollars, I like.
-- Carl Icahn

#Dollars #Quarters #Billions
You learn in this business.. If you want a friend, get a dog.
-- Carl Icahn

#Dog #Business #Want
With some exceptions, the wrong people are running U.S. companies. It's been that way for years, and it hasn't gotten much better.
-- Carl Icahn

#Running #Years #People
Im a cynic about corporate democracy and boards.
-- Carl Icahn

#Democracy #Boards #Cynic
In life and business, there are two cardinal sins, the first is to act precipitously without thought, and the second is to not act at all. Unfortunately the board of directors and top management of Times Warner already committed the first sin by merging with AOL, and we believe they are currently in the process of committing the second; now is not a time to move slowly and suffer the paralysis of inaction.
-- Carl Icahn

#Believe #Moving #Two
We're not about liquidating companies, but if you do that, why is that terrible? We're not blowing up the factories. The person who buys it should be able to make the asset more productive.
-- Carl Icahn

#Able #Factories #Assets

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