3 ms·

Carl Icahn just started a blog - lots of rants

33 points by dangoldin 18y ago

JimEngland 18y ago
My hero!
imp 18y ago
Who quotes themself on the header of their blog? Shouldn't that be some kind of inspriational quote from someone else?
- dangoldin 18y ago
  I think when you are Carl Icahn you can do whatever you want.
  - cglee 18y ago
    I get the sentiment, but this type of title worship is precisely what he's preaching against (when you're the CEO, you can do whatever).
    - dangoldin 18y ago
      I agree with you. My comment was meant to be sarcastic. It's a good idea to try reading articles or posts before you know who the author is and judge them based on the merit of that. Knowing the author affects your judgement.
jonknee 18y ago
> © 2008 Copyright of Icahn Blog LLC All business. Always.
- ljlolel 18y ago
  By starting a separate corporation, he guards his personal fortune from potential liability payments. He's got billions of dollars, so he wants to avoid losing any of it to greedy lawyers who push people to sue for marginal slights.
sspencer 18y ago
He's a pretty fair writer. I wonder if any of it is ghostwritten? Interesting posts nonetheless. I hope he starts posting rants about Yahoo! soon...
- byrneseyeview 18y ago
  http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-dealzone/2008/03/06/icahn-loses-battle-to-his-own-lawyers/ http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-dealzone/2008/03/06/icahn-l... "So far, however, readers wanting a fix of the latest Icahn blast on The Icahn Report, have been disappointed, with the site simply sporting a dour picture of Icahn with the notation, "blog coming soon." At a meeting last night, Icahn explained that he’s not suffering from writers’ block, but said his lawyers are stopping him. "Every night, I write for an hour and they tear it up," said Icahn with a sardonic laugh. "
axod 18y ago
Forgive me, but who is he?
- sspencer 18y ago
  http://www.icahnreport.com/report/about.html http://www.icahnreport.com/report/about.html
  - axod 18y ago
    Yeah I still didn't get the connection to startups/web/hacker news/etc. Is he on TV in the US?
    - natrius 18y ago
      http://news.google.com/news?q=yahoo%20icahn http://news.google.com/news?q=yahoo%20icahn
      - axod 18y ago
        ah ok thanks :)
- palish 18y ago
  Um, don't downvote axod for this innocent question. What's the point of that? axod: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Icahn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Icahn
  - axod 18y ago
    thanks. And -4 downmod for my follow up. I guess I should have done my research :/ just never heard of him before that's all.
    - palish 18y ago
      Yeah, those types of questions are easier to ask Google than to ask forums. However, it is really silly to penalize people for asking questions. My father once said something to me that turned out to be valuable, and I still try to follow his advice: "Only ask a question when you're truly stuck."
dcurtis 18y ago
Wow, I thought he was just some obnoxious prick, but he's actually an extremely intelligent guy. He gets American business.
- henning 18y ago
  A lot of blogs run by high-profile business figures are wishy-washy buzzword-riddled bullshit. It looks like this guy, though, could turn out to be the Zed Shaw of corporate America.
- Zev 18y ago
  Since when does being smart mean its impossible to be an obnoxious prick? Its not an either or situation.
jimbokun 18y ago
Preach it Carl! "They reward the CEO with pay packages and bonuses when the stock is floundering or the CEO is leaving the company. Corporate performance and the shareholders welfare seldom enter the picture. What kind of democracy is this? There is no accountability." I don't mind CEOs who make a lot of money for shareholders also making a lot of money for themselves. But CEOs doing a bad job and still making extravagant sums because of quid pro quo relationships among the executive class is nothing short of fraud.
notauser 18y ago
Obviously a lot of these posts are the result of recent Yahoo fights - especially the poison pill one. I have some sympathy for what he suggests (company board members should always fear for their lives... errr... jobs) but it is necessary to have _some_ stability. Short term thinking already drives a lot of US companies, making radical strategic action hard. Speeding up the process to remove boards to a single EGM (as he suggests) could cripple the ability to do any kind of long term planning.
dpapathanasiou 18y ago
It'll be interesting to see what kinds of comments he allows.
edw519 18y ago
Sometimes the best commercial is to put the boss right out front. When Chrysler had trouble selling cars, personable Lee Iacocca did the TV ads himself. Wendy's is still looking for a spokesman half as good as Dave Thomas. And who could forget Remington's Victor Kiam, "I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company." Technology has changed but the basic idea endures. What better way to promote your cause in a battle among high tech goliaths? The boss's blog, what else.
- byrneseyeview 18y ago
  I'm pretty sure I've been subscribed to the feed since before the Yahoo deal.

33 points by dangoldin 18y ago

JimEngland 18y ago

My hero!

imp 18y ago

Who quotes themself on the header of their blog? Shouldn't that be some kind of inspriational quote from someone else?

dangoldin 18y ago
I think when you are Carl Icahn you can do whatever you want.
- cglee 18y ago
  I get the sentiment, but this type of title worship is precisely what he's preaching against (when you're the CEO, you can do whatever).
  - dangoldin 18y ago
    I agree with you. My comment was meant to be sarcastic. It's a good idea to try reading articles or posts before you know who the author is and judge them based on the merit of that. Knowing the author affects your judgement.

jonknee 18y ago

ljlolel 18y ago
By starting a separate corporation, he guards his personal fortune from potential liability payments. He's got billions of dollars, so he wants to avoid losing any of it to greedy lawyers who push people to sue for marginal slights.

sspencer 18y ago

He's a pretty fair writer. I wonder if any of it is ghostwritten? Interesting posts nonetheless. I hope he starts posting rants about Yahoo! soon...

byrneseyeview 18y ago
http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-dealzone/2008/03/06/icahn-loses-battle-to-his-own-lawyers/ http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-dealzone/2008/03/06/icahn-l... "So far, however, readers wanting a fix of the latest Icahn blast on The Icahn Report, have been disappointed, with the site simply sporting a dour picture of Icahn with the notation, "blog coming soon." At a meeting last night, Icahn explained that he’s not suffering from writers’ block, but said his lawyers are stopping him. "Every night, I write for an hour and they tear it up," said Icahn with a sardonic laugh. "

axod 18y ago

Forgive me, but who is he?

sspencer 18y ago
http://www.icahnreport.com/report/about.html http://www.icahnreport.com/report/about.html
- axod 18y ago
  Yeah I still didn't get the connection to startups/web/hacker news/etc. Is he on TV in the US?
  - natrius 18y ago
    http://news.google.com/news?q=yahoo%20icahn http://news.google.com/news?q=yahoo%20icahn
    - axod 18y ago
      ah ok thanks :)
palish 18y ago
Um, don't downvote axod for this innocent question. What's the point of that? axod: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Icahn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Icahn
- axod 18y ago
  thanks. And -4 downmod for my follow up. I guess I should have done my research :/ just never heard of him before that's all.
  - palish 18y ago
    Yeah, those types of questions are easier to ask Google than to ask forums. However, it is really silly to penalize people for asking questions. My father once said something to me that turned out to be valuable, and I still try to follow his advice: "Only ask a question when you're truly stuck."

dcurtis 18y ago

Wow, I thought he was just some obnoxious prick, but he's actually an extremely intelligent guy. He gets American business.

henning 18y ago
A lot of blogs run by high-profile business figures are wishy-washy buzzword-riddled bullshit. It looks like this guy, though, could turn out to be the Zed Shaw of corporate America.
Zev 18y ago
Since when does being smart mean its impossible to be an obnoxious prick? Its not an either or situation.

jimbokun 18y ago

Preach it Carl! "They reward the CEO with pay packages and bonuses when the stock is floundering or the CEO is leaving the company. Corporate performance and the shareholders welfare seldom enter the picture. What kind of democracy is this? There is no accountability." I don't mind CEOs who make a lot of money for shareholders also making a lot of money for themselves. But CEOs doing a bad job and still making extravagant sums because of quid pro quo relationships among the executive class is nothing short of fraud.

notauser 18y ago

Obviously a lot of these posts are the result of recent Yahoo fights - especially the poison pill one. I have some sympathy for what he suggests (company board members should always fear for their lives... errr... jobs) but it is necessary to have _some_ stability. Short term thinking already drives a lot of US companies, making radical strategic action hard. Speeding up the process to remove boards to a single EGM (as he suggests) could cripple the ability to do any kind of long term planning.

dpapathanasiou 18y ago

It'll be interesting to see what kinds of comments he allows.

edw519 18y ago

Sometimes the best commercial is to put the boss right out front. When Chrysler had trouble selling cars, personable Lee Iacocca did the TV ads himself. Wendy's is still looking for a spokesman half as good as Dave Thomas. And who could forget Remington's Victor Kiam, "I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company." Technology has changed but the basic idea endures. What better way to promote your cause in a battle among high tech goliaths? The boss's blog, what else.

byrneseyeview 18y ago
I'm pretty sure I've been subscribed to the feed since before the Yahoo deal.