Carl Icahn Dumped Millions In Stock Tied To Steel Before Trump’s Tariffs Announcement
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
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
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
