Carl Icahn accused by SEC of concealing billions in stock pledges

The Securities and Exchange Commission fined billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn and his company $2 million for failing to disclose billions of dollars worth of personal margin loans pledged against the value of his Icahn Enterprises stock. Icahn and his company settled without admitting or denying wrongdoing, agreeing to pay fines of $500,000 and $1.5 million, respectively. The SEC found that Icahn had pledged a significant portion of Icahn Enterprises shares to secure margin loans without disclosing this information to shareholders or federal regulators. Icahn’s cumulative personal borrowing was reportedly as much as $5 billion. He did not disclose the margin borrowing until July 2023, following a report by short-seller Hindenburg Research that alleged issues with Icahn Enterprises’ stock valuation. Icahn consolidated and amended his margin borrowings in July, two months after the Hindenburg report. Despite officially handing off the reins earlier in the year, Icahn remains a formidable figure in corporate circles, as evidenced by a recent settlement deal with JetBlue that gave him two board seats.

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