Icahn’s Activist Funds to Return Money to Investors

Billionaire Carl Icahn will return all the money managed for outside investors in his hedge funds, ending a six-year experiment in which he sought to use their cash to gain influence over companies he targeted for change.

Icahn, who buys stakes in companies he considers to be underperforming and then pushes for change, cited concerns about the economy and unrest in the Middle East, according to a client letter filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors had already withdrawn much of their capital from Icahn’s hedge funds, leaving just $1.76 billion of fee-paying assets in the $7 billion funds.