Carl Icahn · 2007 · Contemporary press coverage, 1988 and 2007-2009
RJR Nabisco and Texaco campaigns (documented history)
In the Texaco episode of the late 1980s, after the Pennzoil judgment threw the oil major into crisis, Icahn accumulated a large stake and pressed for asset sales, dividend restoration, and eventually a restructuring, criticizing management's handling of the crisis publicly and in letters to shareholders. The campaign showed his pattern of arriving amid distress with a balance-sheet argument rather than an operating turnaround plan.