As of Sept. 21, Carl Icahn has a net worth of $20.8 billion. He ranks 20th on Forbes' list of the richest billionaires in the United States and 31st in the world.
That's because Carl Icahn holdings are profit gold mines. Stocks almost always climb higher when he publicly discloses a large stake in a company. A perfect example is when Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) spiked 14% on Oct. 31, 2012, after a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission report revealed Icahn owned 10% of NFLX shares.
But how do Carl Icahn holdings stack up against those of Bill Ackman, George Soros, David Einhorn, and Daniel Loeb?
This chart shows how much the top five activist investors are betting in different areas of the market...
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Carl Icahn is known for his large portfolio of energy stocks, like Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX). In June 2014, roughly 31% of Icahn Enterprises LP's (Nasdaq: IEP) holdings were in the oil and gas sectors.
But the number of Icahn's energy holdings has dwindled significantly as oil prices have crashed 48% since last summer. As of Sept. 14, energy stocks make up only 3.8% of his entire portfolio.
Following the investing strategy of activists can be a winning strategy for retail investors. After all, activist-run funds have returned more than 250% over the last 10 years. That's twice as much as the S&P 500.
But most investors don't realize that profiting from Carl Icahn holdings is easier than it looks.
Here's how you can piggyback on the successes of these activist investors...
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