The FTC gave the nod for Carl Icahn to purchase another 1.5 billion in shares of Yahoo. This would give him 59 million shares and 4.3 percent stake in the company. On July 3rd he will be ring leading the proxy battle in hopes for Microsoft to come back to the table with a buyout. In the meantime Yahoo stocks continue to drop, which makes it more important for Icahn to make this a quick battle. So why is the sale of Yahoo so important to Icahn?
The first thought is “Money”, which a lot of people are applying. I, however think it’s more than that. After all: Here is a man who doesn’t even use a personal computer. He has a track record of buying stock, then finding a way to dump it for a considerable profit.
He owns more than any of us could imagine. He owns the Stratosphere – one the tallest casinos in Las Vegas. Forbes has netted him as the 24th richest man at 8.5 billion dollars. Then again, with Bill Gates topping the list at 51 billion and Steve Ballmer at 14, a sale like that can definitely close the gap. After all, Icahn bought shares at twenty five dollars per, so thirty-three dollars would be a sizable return. That is, unless Yahoo falls under that price.
Maybe it’s all about the buying and selling? Just look at his dealings with BEA Systems and Blockbuster. In the past, it was TWA, Nabisco, Texico, Time Warner and a whole lot more.
Whatever the reason, we will have a big news day on July 3rd (the next shareholder meeting). Even if Icahn wins the proxy battle, he then has to re-convince Microsoft to come back to the table. If they do, he then has to convince Microsoft that Yahoo is worth more than $25 dollars a share, especially if Yahoo continues to drop in price. Seems like Icahn is in for a long arduous battle, but that also seems to be what Carl Icahn does best.