After a 5-Year Slump, Carl Icahn Is Betting Big on These 3 Stocks

Carl Icahn is one of the most influential investors on Wall Street. He is a pioneer of activist investing. Icahn began his career as a stockbroker at Dreyfus Corporation, later moving to options trading. In 1968, using $150,000 of his own money and a $400,000 loan from his uncle, he bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and founded Icahn & Co. He is known for demanding board seats, advocating for asset sales, buybacks, or management changes, and sometimes accepting “greenmail” (being paid to go away).

Icahn has a reputation for rapidly extracting value from companies after gaining a stake in them. He has targeted dozens of companies, pushing them to make changes that led to short-term gains at the expense of long-term stability. This doesn’t always work out, but when it does, it can lead to significant gains for those who follow his bets. We’ll be looking into three stocks he is betting the vast majority of his fortune on.

Icahn targets companies that he thinks are undervalued, then he buys up significant stakes in them. Afterwards, he uses his stake to aggressively pressure management for changes that would quickly increase the stock price. Management usually yields to significant stakeholders. Once that happens and the stock price increases, he exits his positions.

Icahn invests through Icahn Enterprises L.P. (IEP). This is a master limited partnership and diversified holding company, of which he owns 90.6%. The performance here hasn’t been as smooth as that of other companies. IEP has had periods of massive outperformance, especially in the 2002 to 2007 stretch, and again from 2012 to late 2013. Recent performance has been dismal, with IEP down 84.94% over the past five years.

IEP has shuttered underperforming stores and has trimmed certain segments. It is now focusing more on segments that have been previously profitable, and stakes are being significantly increased in some companies.

Carl Icahn’s 13F Portfolio, By the Numbers

Icahn believes in big, concentrated investments. His latest 13F filing continues this trend with just 13 holdings spread across $9.1 billion in assets. As a long time activist, Icahn’s positions tend to be high-conviction bets in companies where he believes significant value can be unlocked. His strategy paid off in Q3 2025, when the portfolio rose 11.1%. Let’s look at his three largest positions today a little more closely.

#3 Holding: Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX)

Southwest Gas Holdings of Las Vegas is the largest natural gas distributor in Arizona and also works in California and Nevada. The company serves 2.2 million customers.

The stock was an underperformer in the late 2010s and through 2023, but is making a strong comeback, up 13% year to date. Icahn’s ownership amounts to $497.15 million, or about 5.42% of his portfolio.

#2 Holding: CVR Energy (CVI)

CVR Energy is a holding company that focuses on petroleum refining, renewable fuels, and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing. Icahn is the largest shareholder here and owns 70% of the company. He has been holding CVI stock for around 15 years, so this is not a short-term play.

The company is up an impressive 91.49% in the past five years though it was down 13.75% in the last month. Icahn’s ownership here is worth $2.57 billion, or 28.1% of his portfolio.

#1 Holding: Icahn Enterprises L.P. (IEP)

This is Icahn’s brainchild firm, which has businesses across energy, automotive, food, real estate, pharmaceuticals and other industries. IEP stock has been a major underperformer recently (down 80.49% in the last five years), but Icahn is betting on a turnaround.

Icahn’s ownership in IEP is 47.8% of his portfolio, or $4.37 billion. His holdings here have recently increased by 4.88%.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Neilson Barnard / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images.