Carl Icahn Dumped Millions In Stock Tied To Steel Before Trump’s Tariffs Announcement

Carl Icahn Image by Twitter

By Ari Feldman March 2, 2018

Trump confidant and billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn got a lucky break on a conspicuous trading decision last week, ThinkProgress reported.

SEC filings from February 22 show that Icahn dumped a million shares of an American company that relies heavily on use of steel imports — roughly a week before Donald Trump announced a planned 25% tariff on steel imports. Icahn sold off shares of Manitowoc Company, Inc., which makes construction cranes and “lifting solutions.”

When Trump made his announcement, the construction industry was hit hard. Manitowoc lost 6% of its value. Today, the company’s stock was trading around $26. Icahn sold his shares for between $32 and $34 each. This February marked Icahn’s first trades of his Manitowoc stock since 2015.

Icahn is a famously close confidant of Trump, with various news outlets reporting that the two speak multiple times a week. Icahn quit an advisory role in the White House after concerns emerged over conflicts of interest. In particular, Icahn drew criticism for pushing a biofuel policy that would benefit an energy company he owns.

Over the course of his early career, Icahn gained a reputation as a corporate raider for his leveraged takeovers of various companies.

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO