Carl Icahn, like many activist investors, has discovered the value of talking his book through the media. Add Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to his toolkit.
Carl Icahn, in the middle of a war of words with the Silicon Valley tech community over eBay, said in a regulatory filing he plans on using Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to talk stocks he likes.
155,000 Twitter followers on 99 Tweets
Icahn’s Twitter feed has 155,000 followers and he has tweeted 99 times. He has no activity on his Facebook page other than saying he is “Chairman of Icahn Enterprises L.P.; etc., etc. Some people get rich studying artificial intelligence. Me, I make money studying natural stupidity.”
Icahn active website blogger
In addition to Twitter and Facebook, Icahn uses his Shareholders Square Table web site to communicate in blog format. “A lot of people died fighting tyranny. The least I can do is vote against it,” his web site says, quoting a statement he made at a Texaco annual meeting that generally sums up his attitude towards company boards with which he typically tangles.
Carl Icahn’s current post on the web site takes eBay to task, saying “We are strongly encouraged by the results published yesterday of an investor survey conducted by Bernstein Research regarding our campaign to prove to eBay’s board of directors that stockholders are in favor of separating PayPal from the company. A majority of eBay owners responding to the survey said they believe that the composition of the board should change. 55% of the survey respondents said that the composition of eBay’s board should change, while 43% said that splitting PayPal from eBay is the right move to make.” For a different interpretation of the Bernstein report, review the article on the matter in the March 5 ValueWalk.
Disclosure complies with SEC guidelines
Icahn’s disclosure was done to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines about using social media. The agency clarified last year that companies are allowed use social media and web sites to communicate news, but they must inform investors know which channels that information will appear on first.
Carl Icahn receives 3,933 likes
Many people are liking Icahn, who has 3,933 likes as of late Friday, with the most popular city liking him being Los Angeles and the most popular age group liking him from 25 to 34 years old.
