For a start, Hindenburg has a track record, both at being right enough in its theses and being every bit as obstreperous as the notorious activist investor. But perhaps more important, its criticism of IEP, Icahn’s main investment vehicle, is clear-eyed and, at first glance, hard to disprove.
I don’t know what Carl Icahn eats for breakfast. Shark blood? He’s supposed to be the most feared man on Wall Street, after all. Tuesday morning, he got something even less appealing: a short seller.
Hindenburg Research attacked Icahn Enterprises LP as an overvalued, dangerously levered confidence trick for retail investors who don’t know any better. It is unclear whether Icahn will care; he has been called worse — raider, devil, evil Captain Kirk, and so on — but this time he should.
