Corporate raider Carl Icahn recovers $1 billion in his fortune as loan deal with big banks alleviates shortseller assault
Carl Icahn has been under pressure since May, when the short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged that his publicly traded conglomerate, Icahn Enterprises (IEP), used a high but unsustainable dividend yield to lure retail investors into a “Ponzi-like” operation where assets were held at inflated prices. Hindenburg’s founder, Nathan Anderson, further alleged that Icahn had personally borrowed billions using his IEP shares as collateral and then invested the money in his own funds amid consistent losses.
Shares of IEP plummeted 60% after Hindenburg’s May 1 report, falling to a low of $20 per share by May 25. Icahn, who made his name as a corporate raider in the 1980s, saw his net worth plunge $10 billion in a single day after the report went public. But now, the billionaire has disclosed in an SEC filing that he’s struck a deal with multiple banks to help right his embattled ship, leading IEP stock to soar 20% Monday.
The surge also pushed Icahn’s net worth more than $1 billion higher, Bloomberg reported, although he has still lost over $12 billion so far this year. IEP shares are now up over 70% from May’s low.
Carl Icahn owns roughly 85% of IEP, which has holdings in energy, food packaging, real estate, and numerous other industries and was quick to call Hindenburg’s allegations “self-serving” in a statement in May, adding that he believed they were “intended solely to generate profits on Hindenburg’s short position.”
But now, Icahn has been forced to lean on big banks including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and more to consolidate existing loans that Hindenburg had questioned. The new deal “amends certain covenants” to IEP’s loans, and will condense them to one three-year term option while changing the interest charges to a variable rate, according to an 8-K form filed Monday with the SEC. It also ensures that any collateral Icahn uses for personal loans are based on the net asset value rather than the market price of his IEP shares, the Wall Street Journal first reported. In May, Hindenburg alleged that IEP’s market value was inflated by 200% compared to its net asset value.
A representative for Icahn did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment on the filing.
