Icahn Enterprises Responds to Hindenburg Research Accusations

By Emon Reiser

Icahn Enterprises on Wednesday issued a public response to accusations from short seller Hindenburg Research that Chairman Carl Icahn was allegedly inflating the value of his investment company's assets.

Mr. Icahn's scathing reply to the report, published May 2, comes after federal prosecutors opened an inquiry into the company.

"We intend to take all appropriate steps to protect our unitholders and fight back," Mr. Icahn said after characterizing Hindenberg as "Blitzkrieg Research," and accusing the well-known short seller of launching disinformation campaigns and damaging its reputation.

Icahn added in his statement: "Over the years, we have generated hundreds of billions of dollars of value for stockholders through activist campaigns where we were able to guide boards and CEOs to take the steps necessary to enhance the value of their companies."

"In more recent years the performance of our investment segment has been lower than our historical averages. A key detractor has been our bearish view of the market, causing us to have a large net short position. We recently have taken steps to reduce the short positions in our hedge book and concentrate for the most part on activism, which has served us so well in the past. We believe our existing portfolio has considerable upside potential over the coming years," Icahn said.

Icahn said he expects that over time, Icahn Enterprises's performance will "speak for itself" and that the company "intends to vigorously defend itself and its unitholders."

A day after the report from Hindenburg Research was published, Icahn Enterprises' market capitalization fell by $6.6 billion for its unitholders, according to the company.

"The good news for IEP's investors is that we have Carl, the liquidity, the strategy and the know-how to fight back," the company said.

Icahn Enterprises said in a filing that it is cooperating with the investigation.

Shares are down 17% to $31.37 in morning trading.

Write to Emon Reiser at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 10, 2023 12:05 ET (16:05 GMT)

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