Talking Business
The Kettle? The Pot Says He’s Black
By JOE NOCERA
Published: August 29, 2008
“The real trouble with this country is that we can’t compete because by and large we have terrible boards of directors. I know because I’m on seven of them. They are dysfunctional for the most part. They should have accountability.”
Carl C. Icahn sits on eight company boards.
It was mid-June, and I was writing a column about the end of Microsoft’s efforts to take over Yahoo. Carl C. Icahn, the 72-year-old billionaire who had been trying to force Yahoo into Microsoft’s arms, was railing against Yahoo’s directors. How they had turned their backs on their shareholders. How they were just a bunch of cronies who cared only about keeping their cushy gigs. How they represented all that was wrong with corporate America. “I get outraged at this stuff,” he told me at the time.
Not long after uttering those words, Mr. Icahn settled his dispute with Yahoo and agreed to, well, join its board. So his total is now eight, including Blockbuster, ImClone and WestPoint Home. And, oh yes, a small telecommunications company based in Herndon, Va., called XO Communications, where he is the chairman and majority shareholder.
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