The “karmic quality” of Hindenburg’s war against Carl Icahn has just taken on a new shape. It’s no longer just about shorting your stocks, it’s also about shorting your bonds

Carl Icahn is used to going on offense, but this time he’s the one facing an all-out attack.

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In a May 2nd reportfamed short seller Hindenburg Research targeted Icahn’s publicly traded conglomerate, Icahn Enterprisesclaiming that the company is using a hefty but unsustainable dividend yield to lure retail investors into a “Ponzi-esque” Operation.

“Icahn has used money raised from new investors to pay dividends to old investors,” Hindenburg wrote, while announcing that the company had taken a short position in his company’s stock.

Icahn Enterprises did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment on Hindenburg’s allegations. But on a May 10th opinion In response to Hindenburg’s report, Icahn fought back with his typical bravery.

“Hindenburg Research, founded by Nathan Anderson, would be more appropriately called Blitzkrieg Research for its tactics of wantonly destroying property and harming innocent civilians. Mr. Anderson’s modus operandi is to launch disinformation campaigns to distort companies’ images, tarnish their reputations and wipe out the hard-earned savings of individual investors,” the billionaire wrote, promising to “fight back” the allegations.

Icahn’s billionaire arch-rival, Pershing Square Capital co-founder and CEO Bill Ackman, was quick to comment on the irony that the corporate predator, known for his harsh criticism of executive mismanagement and corporate wrongdoing, is being accused of his own wrongdoing. “There is a karmic quality to this brief account that reinforces the idea of ​​a cycle of life and death. It is therefore required reading,” he wrote on May 2 tweet.

Icahn has had a long tenure feud with Ackman, which peaked in 2013 CNBC interview where he called the founder of Pershing Square Capital a “liar” and a “crybaby” after the two took opposing positions at multi-level marketing company Herbalife. Ackman famously sold Herbalife in 2012 on the grounds that the company was a Ponzi scheme that would eventually drop to $0 per share, but was forced to do so give up his bet in 2018 when the stock soared after Icahn invested in the company.

On Thursday, however, Icahn was under pressure as Hindenburg claimed in a follow-up report that he had borrowed billions from his shares in Icahn Enterprises (IEP) and invested “some or all” money in his own funds.

“These funds subsequently incurred significant losses that could pose a risk of excessive leverage for both Carl Icahn himself and IEP shareholders,” Hindenburg wrote, noting that doubled continued its bet against Icahn Enterprises by also shorting its bonds.

Icahn Enterprises did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Carl Icahn rose to fame in the 1980s with his gory tactics as a corporate robber, enacted by director Oliver Stone was based on to create his Michael Douglas character “Greed is Good” Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street. The billionaire typically bought large numbers of shares in companies he felt were poorly run, then pushed for board changes, layoffs, or asset sales to improve profits and share prices. Though 87-year-old Icahn is no longer the aggressive, activist investor he once was, he still enjoys criticizing corporate mismanagement.

In 2015, he warned of an impending recession in a 15-minute video titled “” and criticized US CEOs for borrowing money for buybacks and acquisitions to artificially inflate profits.danger ahead.”

“This is financial engineering at its peak,” he said. “The earnings that are being released today are very suspicious in my opinion.”

But now Icahn is being accused of his own brand of financial manipulation. Icahn Enterprises stock has crashed down by more than 30% since Hindenburg first announced his short position earlier this month, causing Icahn’s personal net worth to drop many times over 10 billion dollarsaccording to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The episodes for Icahn come after Hindenburg targeted India’s Adani Group sent the company into a tailspin in January, causing CEO and co-founder Gautam Adani’s net worth to plummet by $60 billion Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Hindenburg may not be the investor’s only problem. This was announced by Icahn Enterprises on May 10th regulatory filingthat federal prosecutors obtained information from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York regarding “corporate governance, capitalization, securities offerings, dividends, valuation, marketing materials, due diligence and other materials.” This revelation came just over a week after Hindenbug first attacked the company.

Icahn Enterprises said it was cooperating with the request, adding that “the US Attorney’s Office has made no claims or allegations against us or Mr. Icahn.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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5 side hustles that can make you over $20,000 a year — all while working from home
Do you want to earn extra money? This CD currently has an APR of 5.15%
Buy a house? Find out how much you can save here
That’s how much money you need to make annually to comfortably buy a $600,000 home

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/karmic-quality-hindenburg-war-carl-184910361.html The “karmic quality” of Hindenburg’s war against Carl Icahn has just taken on a new shape. It’s no longer just about shorting your stocks, it’s also about shorting your bonds

Russell Falcon

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