Icahn takes another swing at eBay's board

[Michael Goff]

Summary: The activist investor fired off his second scathing letter this week, slamming board members Marc Andreessen and Scott Cook for being "value-driven for themselves" and calling eBay's corporate governance "dysfunctional." Oh, and he still wants that PayPal spin-off to happen.

http://www.zdnet.com/icahn-takes-another-swing-at-ebays-board-7000026813/

Carl does know the meaning of the word hypocrisy, right?

 

[maflynn]

I saw that. I think most investors now see him as who he really is, and have so far resisted his attempts for proxy take overs. Spinning off paypal will result in a lot of value for stock holders yet it will remove a major revenue source from eBay and harm its long term outlook significantly. For long term growth, PayPal has to be part of the equation and most intelligent people in it for the long haul I think would agree.

 

[Michael Goff]

I saw that. I think most investors now see him as who he really is, and have so far resisted his attempts for proxy take overs. Spinning off paypal will result in a lot of value for stock holders yet it will remove a major revenue source from eBay and harm its long term outlook significantly. For long term growth, PayPal has to be part of the equation and most intelligent people in it for the long haul I think would agree.

I don't know why, but Icahn bugs me a lot.

I can't think of a single time I've read something from him that didn't have that effect.

 

[roadbloc]

I'm beginning to think this Icahn guy is a bit of an idiot.

 

[maflynn]

I don't know why, but Icahn bugs me a lot.

I'm beginning to think this Icahn guy is a bit of an idiot.

He made his fortune by buying into companies and then getting them to sell off pieces of themselves. His buying tactics have been on a bit of a losing streak. He tried to derail Dell's privatization plan, We all know about his proxy fight with Apple and of course eBay.

I think if a company has strong leadership, a solid plan for the future, they can rebuff his attempts to tear apart the company in the name of short term profits.

Edit:
Here's an old article, but it has list of his failures, which have only grown. To be sure he's made a lot of money in the intervening years but its interesting to see companies not rolling over because he suddenly demands them too

 

[tevion5]

He made his fortune by buying into companies and then getting them to sell off pieces of themselves. His buying tactics have been on a bit of a losing streak. He tried to derail Dell's privatization plan, We all know about his proxy fight with Apple and of course eBay.

I think if a company has strong leadership, a solid plan for the future, they can rebuff his attempts to tear apart the company in the name of short term profits.

Edit:
Here's an old article, but it has list of his failures, which have only grown. To be sure he's made a lot of money in the intervening years but its interesting to see companies not rolling over because he suddenly demands them too

Wow, that article is amazing! It's shocking that anybody gives a damn about what he has to say at all.

Companies like Apple and eBay were doing very well over the last decade last time I checked. They have competent management and don't need pointers from a greedy failure.

 

[impulse462]

Is what he does actually legal?

 

[7thson]

Is what he does actually legal?

Yes it is. It's not morally ethical, but capitalism doesn't require that to succeed. In fact, it often seems to reward those who lack moral ethics.

 

[mobilehaathi]

He made his fortune by buying into companies and then getting them to sell off pieces of themselves.

It seems to me that in order to do this he would have already needed a fortune. Where did that money come from?

 

[maflynn]

It seems to me that in order to do this he would have already needed a fortune. Where did that money come from?

No idea, and I'm not saying he was never successful, but rather the he does have a long list of failures.

The issue, is whether its better to have a corporation tear itself apart selling the most lucrative assets to give the profits to the shareholders or keep doing business as usual for them. Icahn does not care for the long term prognosis of a company, only the short term gain in his portfolio.

I think many people are wise to his ways, yet many others see dollar signs and wish to reap the benefits regardless of what it might do to the corporation over the long haul.

 

[mobilehaathi]

No idea, and I'm not saying he was never successful, but rather the he does have a long list of failures.

The issue, is whether its better to have a corporation tear itself apart selling the most lucrative assets to give the profits to the shareholders or keep doing business as usual for them. Icahn does not care for the long term prognosis of a company, only the short term gain in his portfolio.

I think many people are wise to his ways, yet many others see dollar signs and wish to reap the benefits regardless of what it might do to the corporation over the long haul.

Oh I don't disagree with you, I was just wondering where he started to make his money since it seemed unlikely that he could just start seizing a controlling interest in large publicly traded companies with nothing.

Wikipedia claims he started as a stock trader and from there I can imagine the rough trajectory.