Thousands of trades take place every day in markets across the world. But only a few end up making headlines. Perhaps luck is partially responsible. But most of these iconic trades are the result of strong convictions, risk taking, and not being afraid to steer away from the herd and go big. Here are five extraordinary trades from the past 10 years.
Carl’s son, Brett Icahn, followed in his father’s footsteps and co-manages the Sargon portfolio for the family business. His investing partner is David Schechter. Although Brett shares his father’s love of investing, he and Schechter have had striking differences of opinion to Carl’s on certain investments. Most notable in the last several years is Netflix.
Renowned investor Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, made an intriguing bet for charity in 2008 with Ted Seides, president of a hedge fund firm called Protege Partners. Buffett wagered Seides that an S&P 500 index fund would outperform hedge funds in a ten-year period and Seides accepted. The pot at stake was $1 million, earning it the nickname of the million dollar bet.
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1 Dolan, Kerry A. and Kroll, Luisa, “The World’s Billionaires,” Forbes, March 2, 2015.
2 Moon, Angela and Ablan, Jennifer, “Carl Icahn Cuts Netflix Stake, Pockets $800 Million Profit,” Reuters, October 22, 2013.
3 Edwards, Cliff, “Carl Icahn Losing Netflix Bet With Son Brett as Shares Rise,” Bloomberg, January 24, 2014.
5 Performance data in the chart spans October 10, 2013 through July 30, 2015.
6 Zuckerman, Gregory, The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History. New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2009.
7 Gross, Daniel, “Hedge-Fund Manager John Paulson’s Greatest Trade Ever,” Newsweek, November 9, 2009.
8 Tuchman, Mitch, “Warren Buffett on Track to Win Hedge-Fund Bet,” MarketWatch, December 4, 2014.
9 Loomis, Carol J., “Warren Buffett Adds to His Lead in $1 Million Hedge Fund Bet,” Fortune, February 3, 2015.
10 Tepper, Taylor, “The Guy Who Made a $1 Million Bet Against Warren Buffett,” Money, February 27, 2015.
12 Mahapatra, Lisa and Lopez, Linette, “The Greatest Trades in Wall Street History,” Business Insider, February 22, 2015.
13 Vardi, Nathan, “The 25 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers And Traders,” Forbes, February 26, 2014.
14 Li, Hao. “Top 10 Greatest Trades of All Time,” International Business Times, January 6, 2011.
15 Gandel, Stephen. “How Citi’s Andrew Hall Made $100 Million Last Year,” Time, October 19, 2009.
Wow what a sweet Netflix chart. I wish my portfolio looked like that! It’s crazy how much more Icahn could have made if he hadn’t sold half of his shares earlier but 2bil is still one heck of a return.
He donated to the Clinton World Human-Fund. George Costanza, Chairman.