US short-seller Hindenburg Research announced on Tuesday, May 2, that its most recent target for 2023 is Icahn Enterprises, a conglomerate in which activist investor Carl Icahn has a controlling stake. The company has previously taken short bets on the Adani Group and the Jack Dorsey-owned Block.
The Hindenburg Report
In its analysis of the company, Hindenburg pointed out that the value of IEP units was artificially boosted by more than 75% and that “IEP trades at a 218 percent premium to its last reported net asset value (NAV), vastly higher than all comparables.”
As per The Times Of India, Icahn Enterprises did not immediately answer a request for comment. The accusations stated in the report by the short seller could not be independently verified by the media.
Icahn Enterprises’ stock decreased 5.4% in premarket trading. Hindenburg makes investments with its own money and gambles against enterprises. Following the discovery of potential misconduct, the company typically publishes a report outlining the situation and places bets against the target company to gain profit. Short sellers often sell borrowed securities to repurchase them at a lower price.
All About Icahn
Icahn Enterprises, a holding firm with its main office in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, is involved in various industries, including energy, automotive, food packaging, metals, and real estate.
Icahn, the most well-known corporate raider in history, rose to prominence in the 1980s by completing a hostile acquisition of Trans World Airlines and seizing all of the airline’s assets. The multi-billionaire investor most recently invested in McDonald’s and the biotech company Illumina as an activist.
