EarthLink (), is an Internet service provider (ISP) headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It claims 1.94 million subscribers. merged with Atlanta-founded MindSpring, making it the second-largest ISP in the U.S., after AOL.

On December 7, 2001 Earthlink acquired OmniSky, a wireless provider.

On June 10, 2002, EarthLink acquired PeoplePC, a value-priced dial-up service that has more dial-up access numbers than any other ISP (including AOL). PeoplePC's direct competitors are NetZero and Netscape.

In July 2005, EarthLink announced that it was closing the last of its in-house American call centers, though the company still has American call centers via out-source telecom companies.

EarthLink cut 2,600 jobs in 2003 and 2004 Although EarthLink has reduced its expenses from $283,357,000 in 2003 to $227,285,000 in 2005, their earnings are shrinking. In 2003, EarthLink reported an income of $1,401,930,000, but by 2005, it was only $1,290,072,000.

In October 2006, EarthLink reported its first quarterly loss in more than 2½ years. Revenue from dial-up customers dropped 16.8 percent as the company lost 320,001 of those customers from the previous year. The company predicted another loss in the fourth quarter of 2006 of $15–$25 million due to investment in Helio.

In response to budgetary concerns, EarthLink began a major restructuring in late Summer 2007 which involved laying off half its employees and withdrawing from several product lines.

EarthLink returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2007, posting free cash flow of $59 million and $71 million of EBITDA for the quarter.

Free WiFi initiative

In 2006, EarthLink worked with Philadelphia, San Francisco, Anaheim and nine other cities to deploy public Wi-Fi networks. It teamed up with Google in an effort to bring such a network to San Francisco. EarthLink saw citywide Wi-Fi as a way to compensate for the ongoing loss of dialup customers, and hoped to use its strong brand identity and established customer base to gain an edge in the market.

EarthLink's municipal wireless efforts began to dissolve in late August 2007 when the financially ailing company said it was no longer willing to solely fund construction of city-wide wireless networks in San Francisco and 11 other cities. A project in Chicago had stopped cold, and Houston has fined EarthLink for falling behind deadlines.

Reed Slatkin

In 2002, when co-founder Reed Slatkin's Ponzi scheme made headlines, EarthLink released a statement:

"The legal proceedings concerning ex-Board member Reed Slatkin do not involve or impact EarthLink or EarthLink funds. The proceedings involve Mr. Slatkin and his personal clients."

Helio

On January 26, 2005, EarthLink announced that it had formed an agreement with Korean cellphone service provider SK Telecom to jointly own and operate a new MVNO in the U.S. wireless marketplace. The name of this new company is Helio. The network was expected to commence operations sometime in spring 2006. Helio's business model revolves around providing advanced wireless devices not commonly seen for sale in the US market to technology-savvy consumers. The company's flagship device is the Helio Ocean. On June 27, 2008, they agreed to sell their stake in the company to Virgin Mobile.

Aluria Software, LLC

Aluria Software, LLC was a privately held company founded in 1999 and based in Orlando, Florida. On August 22, 2005 EarthLink, Inc. announced an agreement to acquire Aluria Software's assets; thus making Aluria Software a division of EarthLink.

Aluria Software develops and markets security and protection products for consumers, small businesses, and enterprise customers.

New Edge Networks

EarthLink completed its acquisition of New Edge Networks April 13, 2006. New Edge Networks is a CLEC that provides network solutions to businesses through direct and wholesale channels. New Edge differentiates itself from its competition with its private backbone and MPLS network product. New Edge also manages network connections for more than 350 multi-site retailers and has received several awards, most recently the Front & Sullivan “Customer Value Enhancement” Award and Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant” for Remote Access and Mobility Services.

The acquisition of New Edge strengthens EarthLink’s move into the business-to-business markets. New Edge's core network assets have provided EarthLink Business Solutions with a larger coverage area. EarthLink Business Solutions’ product offerings include: dial-up, ADSL, SDSL, fractional and full T1s and T3s. EarthLink Business Solutions call center is located in New Edge’s Vancouver, Washington, campus.

DNS and filtering controversy

In August 2006 EarthLink teamed up with Yahoo and Barefruit to redirect web browser users accessing nonexistent domains to a page containing sponsored search results, ads, and a Yahoo search form. The DNS protocol requires that a query for a nonexistent domain must return the "NXDOMAIN" error response. Instead of this response, EarthLink's DNS servers return several IP addresses for the HTTP servers that implement their redirection service. While such redirection might be helpful to users of some web browsers, it breaks the functionality of many other Internet applications, which assume that the DNS is implemented according to the standard specifications. EarthLink's redirection also prevents the user's web browser from detecting NXDOMAIN errors and handling them according to the user's preference.

Comments left in the official EarthLink blog announcing the feature and news aggregators like Slashdot have been overwhelmingly negative. In 2003, VeriSign implemented a similar feature called Site Finder for all .com and .net domains. VeriSign ultimately reversed the change after the ensuing controversy and under pressure from ICANN. While Site Finder affected all Internet users, EarthLink's redirection feature is only applicable to EarthLink ISP customers. In contrast with VeriSign's policy of not mentioning the effect of Site Finder on non-HTTP-based services, EarthLink says it is trying to minimize the impact on such uses of DNS, which is impossible, since a DNS query doesn't contain any information that can be used by the DNS server to determine whether the addresses obtained from the query will be used for HTTP or other traffic.

After about a month of complaints on the blog, EarthLink made available two DNS servers that it says are unaffected by the service and should properly return NXDOMAIN for all "dead" domain names. These must be manually configured on machines of customers who wish to use them. The company says it will not provide technical support for these alternate servers.

During 2005 and 2006 EarthLink began blacklisting email from a large number of smaller hosting companies to combat spam.

CEO Changes

On November 21, 2006, EarthLink reported in a press release that its CEO, Garry Betty, had been diagnosed with a serious form of cancer which would have required him to take an undetermined leave of absence. The company's Board of Directors named Mike Lunsford, Vice-President of Voice and Access, as interim CEO. Betty lost his battle with cancer and died on January 2, 2007. Scott Richard Wilson quickly replaced Garry Betty but on May 2007,announced that he would be taking a Vice president job at New York Life and on June 25, 2007, EarthLink named Rolla Huff its President and CEO. On January 29, 2008, EarthLink announced that Rolla Huff would replace Robert Kavner as Chairman of the Board.

Notes

References

External links

Official homepage of EarthLink

New Edge Networks

Category:Internet service providers of the United States Category:Companies established in 1994 Category:Companies based in Atlanta, Georgia Category:Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Category:VoIP companies

Name	George Acosta
Background	non_performing_personnel
Birth name	Jorge Acosta
Alias	Acco Traxx, DJ Boom, Frolic, Groove Man, Onnyx, Space Girl
Origin	Miami, Florida, USA
Genre	Trance
Occupation	DJ, Producer, Remixer
Years active	1995 - present
Label	Max Music, Ultra Records, Moist Music
Url	www.georgeacosta.com

George Acosta is a Miami-based DJ and producer of trance music. He started DJ-ing in his teens at local raves in Florida. He has since performed at places such as Love Parade and had mixes, such as 2000s Awake, released on labels including Ultra Records.

Discography

Albums

Members of X (1999)

Awake (2000)

Release AM (2001)

Release PM (2001)

Next Level (2002)

Touched (2003)

Miami (2003)

History of Trance (2004)

Lost World (2005)

All Rights Reserved (2006)

A State of Mind (2007)

All Rights Reserved 2 (2008)

Singles

1995 Quad Speed

1996 The Flow

1996 The Heat

1998 Trippy Breaks

2000 Emotions

2002 Global Progression

2002 The Reaper

2003 The Lost World

2006 Mellodrama

2006 The Other Side (featuring Truth)

2007 War of Hearts

2007 The Apocalypse

2008 Fallin' backwards (featuring Aruna)

2009 Manifest (featuring John Sindo)

2009 Someone

2010 I Know (featuring Tiff Lacey)

2010 True Love (featuring Fisher)

2010 Beautiful (featuring Fisher)

2010 Tearing Me Apart (featuring Fisher)

2010 Love Rain Down (featuring Fisher)

2010 Nite Time (Featuring Kate Walsh)

References

External links

Category:American DJs Category:American record producers Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Name	Michel Gondry
Caption	Michel Gondry in Paris in March 2008
Birth date
Birth place	Versailles, France
Occupation	Director, screenwriter
Years active	1986-present

Michel Gondry (born May 8, 1963) is a French film, commercial and music video director and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène.

Life and career

Gondry was born in Versailles, France. He is the grandson of inventor Constant Martin. He has a teenage son named Paul who is also an artist.

His career as a filmmaker began with creating music videos for the French rock band Oui Oui, in which he also served as a drummer. The style of his videos for Oui Oui caught the attention of music artist Björk, who asked him to direct the video for her song "Human Behaviour". The collaboration proved long-lasting, with Gondry directing a total of seven music videos for Björk. Other artists who have collaborated with Gondry on more than one occasion include Daft Punk, The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers, The Vines, Steriogram, Radiohead, and Beck. Gondry has also created numerous television commercials. He pioneered the "bullet time" technique later adapted in The Matrix, in a 1998 commercial for Smirnoff vodka, as well as directing a trio of inventive holiday-themed advertisements for clothing retailer Gap, Incorporated.

Gondry, along with directors Spike Jonze and David Fincher, is representative of the influx of music video directors into feature film. Gondry made his feature film debut in 2001 with Human Nature, garnering mixed reviews. His second film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (also his second collaboration with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman), was released in 2004 and received very favorable reviews, becoming one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. Eternal Sunshine utilizes many of the image manipulation techniques that Gondry had experimented with in his music videos. Gondry won an Academy Award alongside Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth for the screenplay of Eternal Sunshine. The style of Gondry's music videos often relies on videography and camera tricks which play with frames of reference.

Gondry also directed the musical documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2006) which followed comedian Dave Chappelle as he attempted to hold a large, free concert in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. His following film, The Science of Sleep, hit theaters in September, 2006. This film stars Mexican actor Gael García Bernal, and marked a return to the fantastical, surreal techniques he employed in Eternal Sunshine.

According to the Guinness World Records 2004, Michel Gondry's Levi's 501 Jeans "Drugstore" spot holds the record for "Most awards won by a TV commercial". The commercial was never aired in North America because of the suggestive content involving purchasing latex condoms.

He was asked by French comic duet Éric and Ramzy to direct Seuls Two, but declined ; by his suggestion, Éric and Ramzy subsequently asked Mr Oizo to direct another movie : Steak.

In September 2006, Gondry made his debut as an installation artist at Deitch Projects in New York City's SoHo gallery district. The show, called "The Science of Sleep: An Exhibition of Sculpture and Pathological Creepy Little Gifts" featured props from his film, The Science of Sleep, as well as film clips and a selection of gifts that the artist had given to women he was interested in, many of them former or current collaborators, Karen Baird, Kishu Chand, Dorothy Barrick and Lauri Faggioni. A leitmotif of the film is a 'Disastrology' calendar; Gondry commissioned the painter Baptiste Ibar to draw harrowing images of natural and human disasters.

His brother Olivier "Twist" Gondry is also a television commercial and music video director creating videos for bands such as The Stills, Hot Hot Heat, Daft Punk and The Vines.

Gondry was an Artist in Residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005 and 2006. Later directing the music video for the Paul McCartney song "Dance Tonight", in which Gondry makes a cameo appearance. Gondry directed of "Unnatural Love," the fifth episode in season two of HBO's Flight of the Conchords. Interior Design one third of the 2008 anthology film Tokyo! was next for Gondry. Interior Design was based on the comic book "Cecil and Jordan in New York" by Gabrielle Bell but was adapted from New York City to Tokyo for the film.

In 2009 The Thorn in the Heart another feature documentary was released it is about Michel's aunt Suzette and her son Jean-Yves. In 2011 The Green Hornet a superhero film Gondry was hired to direct by Sony will come out staring Seth Rogen and Christoph Waltz; Rogen co-wrote the script.

Gondry lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Filmography

Feature films

art project.]]

Human Nature (2001)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

The Science of Sleep (2006)

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

The Green Hornet (2011)

Short films

L'expedition fatale (1986)

Jazzmosphère (1987)

My Brother's 24th Birthday (1988)

La lettre (1998)

*The Letter

One Day... (2001)

Pecan Pie (2003)

Ossamuch! - Kishu & Co. (2004)

Tiny (2004)

Three Dead People (2004)

Drumb and Drumber (2004)

Michel Gondry Solves a Rubik's Cube with his Nose (2007)

Tôkyô!: Interior Design (2008)

Documentary films

Vingt p'tites tours (1989) Co-director

Twenty Small Towers

I've Been Twelve Forever (2003)

Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005)

L'Epine dans le Coeur (2009)

Music videos

"Open Your Heart" - Mia Doi Todd (2010)

"Too Many Dicks On The Dancefloor" & "Carol Brown" (unofficial videos) - Flight Of The Conchords (2009)

"Soleil du Soir" - Dick Annegarn (2008)

"Declare Independence" - Björk (2007)

"Dance Tonight" - Paul McCartney (2007)

"Limitless Undying Love" - Sergio Hiram (2007)

"Cellphone's Dead" - Beck (2006)

"Anysound" - The Vines (2006)

"King of the Game" - Cody ChesnuTT (2006)

"Heard 'Em Say" (U.S. Version) - Kanye West (2005)

"The Denial Twist" - The White Stripes (2005)

"Light & Day" (movie version) - The Polyphonic Spree (2004)

"Winning Days" - The Vines (2004)

"Mad World" (Donnie Darko soundtrack version) - Gary Jules (2004)

"Ride" - The Vines (2004)

"Walkie Talkie Man" - Steriogram (2004)

"I Wonder" - The Willowz (2004)

"The Hardest Button to Button" - The White Stripes (2003)

"Behind" - Lacquer (2003)

"Come Into My World" - Kylie Minogue (2002)

"A l'envers à l'endroit" - Noir Désir (2002)

"Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" - The White Stripes (2002)

"Fell in Love with a Girl" - The White Stripes (2002)

"Star Guitar" - The Chemical Brothers (2001)

"Knives Out" - Radiohead (2001)

"Mad World" - Michael Andrews and Gary Jules (2001)

"Let Forever Be" - The Chemical Brothers (1999)

"Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones (1998)

"Another One Bites the Dust" - Wyclef Jean (1998)

"Music Sounds Better With You" - Stardust (1998)

"Bachelorette" - Björk (1997)

"Deadweight" - Beck (1997)

"Jóga" - Björk (1997)

"Everlong" - Foo Fighters (1997)

"A Change Would Do You Good" - Sheryl Crow (1997)

"Around the World" - Daft Punk (1997)

"Feel It" - Neneh Cherry (1997)

"Sugar Water" - Cibo Matto (1996)

"Hyper-Ballad" - Björk (1996)

"Like a Rolling Stone" - The Rolling Stones (1995)

"Isobel" - Björk (1995)

"Protection" - Massive Attack (1995)

"High Head Blues" - Black Crowes (1995)

"Army of Me" - Björk (1995)

"Fire On Babylon" - Sinéad O'Connor (1994)

"Lucas With the Lid Off" - Lucas (1994)

"Little Star" - Stina Nordenstam (1994)

"This is it (Your Soul)" - Hothouse Flowers (1993)

"It's Too Real (Big Scary Animal)" - Belinda Carlisle (1993)

"Human Behaviour" - Björk (1993)

"Believe" - Lenny Kravitz (1993)

"She Kissed Me" - Terence Trent D'Arby (1993)

"Voila, Voila, Qu'ça r'Commence" - Rachid Taha (1993)

"La main parisienne" - Malcolm McLaren, featuring Amina (1993) (unreleased)

"Je Danse Le Mia" - IAM (1993)

"Snowbound" - Donald Fagen (1993)

"La Tour de Pise" - Jean François Coen (1993)

"Hou! Mamma Mia" - Les Négresses Vertes (1993)

"Les Jupes" - Robert (1992)

"Two Worlds Collide" - Inspiral Carpets (1992)

"Close But No Cigar" - Thomas Dolby (1992)

"Paradoxal Système" - Laurent Voulzy (1992)

"La Ville" - Oui Oui (1992)

"How the West Was Won" - Energy Orchard (1992)

"Les Voyages Immobiles" - Etienne Daho (1992)

"Blow Me Down" - Mark Curry (1992)

"Comme un ange (qui pleure)" - Les Wampas (1992)

"Dad, laisse-moi conduire la Cad" - Peter & the Electro Kitsch Band (1991)

"La normalité" - Les Objects (1991)

"Sarah" - Les Objects (1991)

"Ma Maison" - Oui Oui (1990)

"Queen for a Day" - The Life of Riley (1989) (unreleased)

"Tu rimes avec mon coeur" - Original MC (1989)

"Les Cailloux" - Oui Oui (1989)

"Il y a ceux" - l'Affaire Louis Trio (1989)

"Queen for a Day" - The Life of Riley (1989)

"Dô, l'enfant d'eau" - Jean-Luc Lahaye (1988)

"Bolide" - Oui Oui (1988)

"Un Joyeux Noël" - Oui Oui (1988)

"Junior Et Sa Voix D'Or" - Oui Oui (1988)

Advertisements

Adidas Aftershave - Released From Work

Air France - Le Nuage

Air France - Le Passage

AMD - Flatzone

BMW - Pure Drive

Coca-Cola - Snowboarder

Nespresso - The Boutique

Diet Coke - Tingle and Bounce 1, Tingle and Bounce 2

Électricité de France - Selects

Earthlink - Privacy

Fiat - Lancia Y10

Fox Sports Network campaign (four ads)

GAP - Holiday Campaign

Gatorade - Propel Fitness Water - Drip

Heineken - Debut

Levi's - Bellybutton

Levi's - Drugstore

Levi's - Mermaids

Levi's - Swap

Motorola - Razr2

NatWest - Zoom

Nike - Basketball campaign (five ads)

Nike - I Can Play

Nike - Leo

Nike - The Long, Long Run

Polaroid - Resignation / Living Moments

Smirnoff - Smarienberg

Volvo - I Said Volvo

Television

Flight of the Conchords, Episode 17: 'Unnatural Love' (2009)

Bibliography

Henry Keazor, Thorsten Wuebbena, Video Thrills The Radio Star. Musikvideos: Geschichte, Themen, Analysen. Bielefeld 2005, p. 90ss., p. 288ss. ISBN 978-3-89942-728-8

You'll Like This Film Because You're In It (2008). PictureBox

Markus Altmeyer, Die Filme und Musikvideos von Michel Gondry. Zwischen Surrealismus, Pop und Psychoanalyse, Marburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-8288-9764-9

Henry Keazor, "`Emotional Landscapes´: Die Musikvideos von Michel Gondry und Björk“, in: Klandschaften, ed. by Manuel Gervink and Jörn Pieter Hiekel, Hofheim 2009, p. 45 - 63. ISBN 978-3-936000-59-7

Henry Keazor/Thorsten Wuebbena, "Introduction" and Giulia Gabrielli, "An Analysis of the Relation between Music and Image. The Contribution of Michel Gondry", in: Keazor, Henry; Wuebbena, Thorsten: Rewind, Play, Fast Forward. The Past, Present and Future of the Music Video. Bielefeld 2010; ISBN 978-3-8376-1185-4, p. 16 - 18 and p. 89 - 109

References

External links

MichelGondry.com Official Website and Shop

Le Monde de Michel Gondry French website dedicated to Michel's work

AOL Interview about 'Be Kind Rewind' that looks at how Gondry has matured as a filmmaker.

Director File ·· Michel Gondry documents all of Michel's work

New York Times Magazine profile on Michel Gondry (09/2006)">Le Romantique New York Times Magazine profile on Michel Gondry (09/2006)

Washington Post: Michel Gondry (03/2006)

Associated Press article that links Gondry's dreams to his work.

Suicide Girls Interview

#2

DirectorsLabel.com co-founded with Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham

Partizan represents Gondry alongside many other directors for commercials and music videos worldwide

BBC Imagine... A unique Exquisite Corpse which Michel Gondry has contributed to

"Dream Factory" by Ben Davis, Artnet Magazine

"How My Brain Works" Gondry interview with Scott Thill of Bright Lights Film Journal

Interviews SiouxWIRE interview compilation

">"Michel Gondry" a parody of MTV Cribs and Gondry's filmmaking style by sketch comedy group Olde English.

Michel Gondry's Crew Profile on The 1 Second Film website

Videography at Clipland

Website for the book by Henry Keazor & Thorsten Wübbena, Video Thrills The Radio Star. Musikvideos: Geschichte, Themen, Analysen. Bielefeld 2005, p. 90ss., p. 288ss. ISBN 978-3-89942-728-8 which features in-depth-analysis of Gondry's music videos and references to sources

Category:1963 births Category:Advertising directors Category:Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Category:French film directors Category:Surrealist filmmakers Category:French music video directors Category:Living people Category:People from Versailles * Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners

Name	Carl Icahn
Caption	Carl Icahn
Birth date	February 16, 1936
Birth place	Queens, New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Princeton University and New York University School of Medicine (drop- out)
Networth	US$10.5 billion (2010)
Spouse	Gail Icahn
Children	Brett Icahn, Michelle Icahn
Occupation	Businessman:Chairman, Financier

Carl Celian Icahn (born February 16, 1936) is an American financier, corporate raider, and private equity investor.

Biography

Icahn was raised in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York City, where he attended Far Rockaway High School. His father was a cantor (a Jewish prayer leader), his mother was a schoolteacher. He was educated at Princeton University (A.B., philosophy, 1957) and New York University School of Medicine, but left without graduating.

Icahn began his career on Wall Street in 1961. In 1968, he formed Icahn & Co., a securities firm that focused on risk arbitrage and options trading. In 1978, he began taking control of positions in individual companies.

Recently, Icahn showed interest in the takeover of Yahoo! and the ousting of Jerry Yang from his current position as CEO to allow Microsoft to purchase the web company.

In June 2008, Icahn launched The Icahn Report which campaigns for shareholder rights. It hosts United Shareholders of America where individual investors can sign up and take part.

In July 2010, Icahn acquired 14 percent stake in Mentor Graphics because of which Mentor Graphics signed a Poison Pill provision. As of September 2010, Icahn owns just less than 15 percent of Mentor Graphics.

Business interests

As of 2007, Icahn and his affiliates currently own majority positions in firms including ACF Industries, American Railcar Industries, XO Communications, Philip Services, and NYSE-listed Icahn Enterprises, formerly known as American Real Estate Partners.

Icahn was a director of Blockbuster until January 2010, and the chairman of Imclone, Icahn Enterprises, XO Communications, WestPoint Home, Cadus, and American Railcar Industries. He is a beneficial owner of Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, Vector Group and has had significant holdings in Time Warner. Icahn tried to take over Marvel Comics, coming into conflict with Avi Arad, Ron Perelman, and Ike Perlmutter. Marvel ended up being acquired by The Walt Disney Company in late 2009.

In 2004, Icahn purchased a large block of stock of Mylan Laboratories, after Mylan had announced a deal to acquire King Pharmaceuticals. Icahn threatened a proxy fight over the acquisition, on the ground that the deal required Mylan to overpay. He contended that Mylan's chief executive Robert J. Coury was significantly overcompensated and that Mylan's corporate governance was otherwise badly flawed. In early 2005, Mylan gave up its efforts to acquire King, but according to the management, the decision was made after it monitored relevant facts, not due to pressure from Icahn.

In 2006, Icahn sold his stake in KT&G; (Korea Tobacco & Ginseng) for a substantial profit.

Icahn sold his casino interests in Nevada on 21 February 2008. They included the Stratosphere, Arizona Charlie's Boulder, Arizona Charlie's Decatur, and Aquarius Casino Resort which are operated through American Entertainment Properties, a subsidiary of Icahn's major company, Icahn Enterprises. The sale price of $1.3 billion was roughly $1 billion more than he paid for the properties.

Icahn made an attempted run as a major shareholder of Time Warner, owning about 3.3% of the company valued at billions of dollars. He has been actively seeking to influence the direction of Time Warner, often in conflict with its former chief executive, Richard Parsons. Although Time Warner recently sold 5% of its AOL division, Icahn has been pressing for additional action to increase shareholder value. On February 7, 2006, a group led by Icahn and Lazard Frères CEO Bruce Wasserstein unveiled a 343-page proposal calling for the breakup of Time Warner into four companies and stock buybacks totaling approximately $20 billion. On February 17, 2006, the Icahn-led group agreed with Time Warner to not contest the re-election of Time Warner's slate of board members at the 2006 shareholders meeting. In exchange for the Icahn group's cooperation, Time Warner would buy back up $20 billion of stock, nominate more independent members to the board of directors, cut $1 billion of costs by 2007, and continue discussions with the Icahn group over their proposal, particularly on the future of Time Warner Cable.

Icahn's hedge funds currently own 5.6% of biotechnology company Biogen Idec. Beginning in 2007, Icahn has steadily increased his stake in Biogen, seeking to possibly acquire, break up, and/or sell off various parts of the company. As of June, 2009, Icahn has managed to seat two of his allies on Biogen's board with the apparent goal of splitting the company into two entities and possibly replacing CEO James C. Mullen, of whom he has been highly critical.

Recent developments

In August 2006, he bought stock in the video game publisher Take-Two Interactive. He increased his stake to 11.3% on December 21, 2009, making him the company's second largest shareholder.

In January 2007, he purchased a 9.2% stake in Telik (Nasdaq: TELK), a biotech company engaged in cancer research, because he believed its shares were undervalued.

On January 16, 2007 it was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Icahn is the beneficial owner of 14.57%, or 6.1 million shares, of WCI Communities (NYSE: WCI) . In the filing Icahn indicated that he intends to contact WCI to discuss how to "unlock the inherent value" of its shares.

On January 30, 2007 Motorola (NYSE: MOT) said it received notice that Icahn owns about 33.5 million shares, representing a 1.39% interest in the company and pressed for a seat on its board. But he was turned down by the majority of the stock holders in the election for Board Directors which was held on May 8.

On February 9, 2007, Lear Corporation's (NYSE: LEA) board of directors agreed to a $2.3 billion takeover offer from Icahn, pending a 45 day solicitation period for other offers, which it did not receive, and shareholder approval.

On February 27, 2007, Icahn invested $50 million in Motricity, a North Carolina-based provider of mobile content delivery technology.

During April, 2007, Icahn successfully pressured Medimmune (MEDI) to consider takeover bids. The company was bought out by AstraZeneca.

On May 7, 2007, Icahn's quest for a board seat on Motorola is effectively ended, as the company announced the next day that in a preliminary count of the votes for board members Icahn did not have enough to be elected. Icahn stated that he would not sell his shares in the company.

On September 14, 2007, Icahn disclosed his ownership of 8.5% of outstanding shares in business software company BEA Systems BEA Systems shares rose more than 4% after Icahn disclosed his stake in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the filing, Icahn, known for forcefully pushing an agenda at companies where he acquires ownership, suggested that BEA Systems should put itself up for sale. By September 21, Icahn increased his stake to 9.88% of BEA, and on October 3, to 11.05%, and then to 13.22% on October 4, 2007. On January 16, 2008, Oracle Corporation announced it was purchasing BEA Systems.

On February 21, 2008, Carl Icahn sold his American Casino & Entertainment Properties which owned four casinos in Southern Nevada (3 in Las Vegas, and one in Laughlin).The announcement had been made on April 23, 2007. The purchaser was an affiliate of Goldman Sachs and the price was $1.3 billion.

On March 9, 2008, a story about Carl Icahn aired on American news program, 60 minutes, with reporter Leslie Stahl.

On March 21, 2008 Icahn appeared on Nightly Business Report and discussed his views on proxy fights.

On March 24, 2008 Icahn sued Motorola as part of his efforts to gain 4 seats on Motorola's Board and force a sale of its mobile business.

On May 13, 2008 Carl Icahn purchased as many as 50 million shares of Yahoo, leaning toward launching a proxy contest.

On May 15, 2008 Icahn confirmed that he would be commencing a proxy fight to remove Yahoo's Board of Directors in response to their "irrational" actions in rejecting Microsoft's takeover bid.

On June 18, 2008 Icahn launched The Icahn Report.

On July 21, 2008 Icahn agreed to join Yahoo's Board of Directors in a deal that would end the proxy fight. According to the agreement, the Yahoo Board will expand by two directors to eleven members. Eight directors will stand for re-election while the remaining three seats will include Icahn and two nominees that Icahn will recommend.

In September/October 2008 Icahn has been involved in the attempted purchase of Imclone by Bristol Myers Squibb (which was turned down) and eventual sale of Imclone to Eli Lilly in an all cash deal valued at $6.5bn. Icahn had described Bristol Myers Squibb's upwardly revised offer of $62 per share as "absurd".

In December 2008, Icahn filed suit against Realogy over a proposed debt swap.

On April 20, 2009, Apparently, Carl Icahn's proxy battle for Amylin is an attempt to engineer a sale to Lilly. Icahn aims Amylin [AMLN] for sale to Lilly [LLY]

On Sept. 28, 2009, XO Holdings (XOHO) rejected Icahn's offer to buy out the remaining shares of XO he doesn't own already for 55 cents a share as "substantially undervalues" company. Icahn previously attempted to buy the telecom assets from XO but dropped the bid because of shareholders opposition. A lawsuit filed by the hedge fund and minority shareholder R2 in August, 2009 alleges Icahn as director and majority owner of XO - hurt shareholders by refusing refinance of the debts owned by Icahn when capital was easily available and repeatedly denying acquiring attempts at prices several times higher than Icahn’s offer. On October 26, 2009 Icahn raised his offer to 80 cents a share. The offer expired on the same day a filling disclosed its existence.

On Oct. 23rd, 2009, Icahn announced his resignation from the board of directors at Yahoo!

On Feb 16, 2010, it was revealed that Icahn had reduced his equity stake in Yahoo! from a one-time high of 75 million shares to 12 million shares.

On Feb. 18 , 2010, Icahn, through a subsidiary of his Icahn Enterprises LP, have acquired from Fontainebleau Las Vegas, LLC and certain affiliated entities the Fontainebleau property and improvements thereon located in Las Vegas, Nevada for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $150 million. Icahn is confident with the acquisition of the 70% complete Fontainebleau property stating that "The acquisition of the Fontainebleau property was a great opportunity to purchase a distressed asset that I believe has considerable value."

On March 8, 2010, a group of lenders, headed by Icahn, closed on the purchase of Tropicana Casino and Resort Atlantic City, bringing the company out of bankruptcy for $200 million.

On March 23, 2010, Lions Gate Films rejected a takeover bid.

On May 17, 2010, Icahn reported that he owns almost 12% of Hain Celestial Group Inc. (HAIN).

On May 25, 2010, Icahn reported that he bought an 8.54% stake in Lawson Software as of May 11. (LWSN).

On May 27, 2010, Icahn reported that he had accumulated a 6.9% stake in Mentor Graphics. (MENT).

Philanthropy

Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island in New York City is named after him, as is the Carl C. Icahn Center for Science and Icahn Scholar Program at Choate Rosemary Hall, a top-tier New England prep school. This organization pays for tuition, room and board, books, and supplies for 10 students every year for four years (freshman-senior), an expense that adds up to about $160,000 per student.

Icahn made a substantial donation to his alma mater, Princeton University, to fund a genomics laboratory which bears his name, the Carl C. Icahn Laboratory at the University's Institute for Integrated Genomics. He also made a large donations to Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, of which he is a trustee, which in return named a building the Icahn Medical Institute designed by Davis Brody Bond.

His foundation, the Children's Rescue Fund, built Icahn House in The Bronx, a 65-unit complex for homeless families consisting of single pregnant women and single women with children, and operates Icahn House East and Icahn House West, both of which are homeless shelters located in New York City.

Icahn has received numerous awards, including the Starlight Foundation's Founders Award and its 1990 Man of the Year Award. He was also named Guardian Angel 2001 Man of the Year. In 2004, he was honored by the Center for Educational Innovation - Public Education Association for his work with charter schools. In 2006, he was honored with the 100 Women in Hedge Funds Effecting Change Award for his outstanding contributions to improving education.

Wealth

In 2010 his net worth was US$11 billion, making him the 24th richest American, and as of March 2010 the 59th richest man in the world.

Thoroughbred horse racing

In 1985 Carl Icahn established Foxfield Thoroughbreds, a horse breeding operation. At that year's Newstead Farm Trust sale run by Fasig-Tipton, he paid $4 million for Larida, a 6-year-old mare and a record $7 million for the 4-year-old bay mare Miss Oceana who was in foal to champion sire, Northern Dancer.

Icahn's Meadow Star won the 1990 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Two-Year-Old Filly. In 1992, Foxfield ended its racing operation and became a commercial breeder. Having bred more than 140 stakes horses, in 2004 Icahn shut down Foxfield, selling all his mares and weanlings without reserve at the Keeneland Sales November breeding stock auction.

See also

Dan Raviv

Avi Arad

Toy Biz

T. Boone Pickens

Icahn Stadium

Theo Botha

References

Connie Buck, The Predators' Ball (1988); Chapter 8 ("Icahn-TWA: From Greenmailer to Manager-Owner")

External links

Carl Icahn's Stock Portfolio: Always Updated

Icahn Acolyte Lichtenstein Must Duel Hero

Icahn and BofA Take Steel Partners to Court

Guest Video Lecture by Carl Icahn at Yale Finanacial Markets Course (2008)

- Dealscape: Icahn wants you for the United Shareholders of America! - blog

The Icahn Report - Icahn's personal blog

The Icahn Lift, 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl Profiles The Billionaire Investor accessed March 14, 2008

Forbes profile page on Carl Icahn

Forbes profile page on Carl Icahn

Forbes profile page on Carl Icahn

MarketWatch.com: Icahn's recent track record and Motorola

Carl Icahn Invests $50 Million in Mobile Content Distributor Motricity

"If He Ruled the World" Knowledge at Wharton (Registration required)

Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:American billionaires Category:American chief executives Category:American financiers Category:American investors Category:American philanthropists Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:Far Rockaway High School alumni Category:New York University alumni Category:Corporate raiders Category:People from Far Rockaway, Queens Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Trans World Airlines