WSJ: Carl Icahn Giving Up Battle for Control of Time Warner

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 17, 2006 - 7:30am.

Dulles, Va. - Billionaire financier Carl Icahn has ended his battle to gain control of AOL-parent Time Warner, and is now in talks with the media giant about a potential settlement, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Icahn, whose group owns about 6% of Time Warner, had been seeking to gain control of the company's board with the goal of breaking it into four separate companies to increase its value to shareholders. But Icahn, who has been unable to gain much traction with other large shareholders, on Thursday backed down from his original goal by nominating only five candidates for the board, which has 14 seats. "Many shareholders want change on the board, but they feel a full slate would be disruptive," Icahn told the Journal "I agree it's disruptive, which is why we're cutting down the slate."
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