Carl Icahn: The True Measure of a Successful Buy-and-Sell Businessman

Carl Icahn is an American billionaire who has amassed great wealth by buying and selling exciting businesses. He is more popularly known for his moniker “imperial shareholder.” Some of the deals where he had a fortune included Trans World Airlines (TWA) Texas Oil and United States Steel Corporation (USX).

Born and raised in New York, Icahn went to Princeton University in New Jersey where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Arts and Sciences.

His strategy of investments included buying out controlling stakes existing in major companies in the name of a change in management. As the company’s performance improves, he sells it at a high profit.

Icahn believes that his strategy makes a financially distressed company become productive. In defense to his detractors, Icahn says his strategy is not about liquidating businesses. It is about helping them to cope and thrive as a business.

Icahn’s fortune is estimated by Forbes Magazine to be about $14 billion. He is listed as one of the richest men in the world.

Lee Iacocca: Rejection Propelled Him to Succeed

When the car company Chrysler Corporation was on the verge of economic collapse in the 1980s, Lee Iacocca became its savior. When he was its CEO he revived the company, that’s why Chrysler continues to produce quality cars to this day.

Iacocca was born on October 15, 1924. He spent his boyhood in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He studied industrial engineering at Bethlehem’s Lehigh University. His education was instrumental in his success in the steel industry later in his career.

He started his career in the automobile industry when he worked as an engineer with Ford Motor Company. Soon he worked with sales, then later with product development. In 1956, he developed a marketing campaign which he dubbed as “56 for 56.” The success of this marketing strategy helped him to climb the ladder of leadership until he was named Ford Division’s President in 1964.

Among Iacocca’s contributions to Ford were his design and marketing concepts of some of the most saleable Ford models which included Fiesta, Mustang and Lincoln Continental Mark III. However, personal conflict erupted between Iacocca and Ford in 1978 which led to Iacocca’s termination from Ford.

Iacocca joined Chrysler Corporation after he departed from Ford. During this time, Chrysler was experiencing loses on the larger models. The company was going bankrupt. As the Chairman, Iacocca started restructuring Chrysler. He streamlined the workers. He sold the losing divisions. He introduced the MiniMax project which Henry Ford refused to accept into the Ford product lines.

In the 1970s, at a time when America is experiencing fuel crisis, Chrysler introduced more compact cars. The Americans loved these cars because they are fuel efficient and are less expensive. The minivans and these compact cars were the models rejected by Henry Ford. In a few years’ time, Chrysler’s mini cars became the more sought-after cars of American families.

Soon in 1993, Chrysler purchased AMC, the producer of Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep brand has been in Iacocca’s sight for a long time until Chrysler was able to acquire it.

After Chrysler’s acquisition of AMC, Iacocca left the company. He continued his passion in writing several books which detailed his life and work. As a retired officer of Chrysler, Iacocca continues to contribute as a writer and speaker for the company.

Gerry Harvey: The Friendly Billionaire

Gerry Harvey is very popular in Australia because he is approachable; someone you can just chat with anywhere. Such characteristics are very unlikely of a billionaire. Harvey is the owner of one of Australia’s biggest home entertainment and furniture retail stores.

The retail store Harvey Norman started in 1961 when Gerry and his friend Ian Norman sold electrical goods. The store was known back then as Norman Ross until Alan Bond, an Australian businessman bought the company in the early 1980s.

Harvey and Norman opened a new store in 1982 and named it Harvey Norman. The growth of the company was quick and the company was traded public at the Australian stock exchange under the name Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. Soon, the company expanded to other countries like New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore and even as far as Slovenia and Ireland.

Harvey is also passionate about horses. He owns a stable of hundreds of pedigree racehorses. He holds 50% of Magic Millions, an auction house which sells the most expensive racehorses in Australia.

Conrad Hilton: The Man Behind Hilton Hotels

Conrad Hilton is the owner of the chain of hotels known as Hilton Hotel. His hotel business started in 1919. At the beginning of the 21^st century, he has more than 500 hotels around the world.

Hilton was born in San Antonio, New Mexico on December 25, 1887. During his boyhood, Hilton would help the family businesses – a general store, a bank, a post office and a small hotel. Aside from schooling, taking care of the family’s business occupied much of the time of young Hilton.

He was elected to the New Mexico state legislature when he was 25 years old. After serving two terms, he left politics. He then went into banking. He opened his own bank but was forced to sell it when he was enlisted to the army during the World War I.

When he returned to New Mexico after the war, he found out that his father’s businesses were failing. Frustrated, he left for Texas to find his fortune. He was 31 then.

Wanting to take advantage of the booming oil industry in Texas, Hilton hoped to find his fortune by opening a bank. He attempted to buy a bank in Cisco but failed. He found a shelter in a nearby Mobley Hotel. He saw the hotel’s potential. He raised money and purchased the hotel within a few days.

Hilton studied his predecessor’s business failures. He renovated the restaurant and the ballroom. He empowered his staff to make customer satisfaction and comfort a paramount priority.

Hilton recovered his investment at Mobley Hotel in just one year. With the profits he amassed, he bought the Waldorf Hotel in Dallas and the Melba Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas. He built his first hotel in a leased land in Dallas in 1925.

Hilton purchased his first hotel outside Texas in 1937 when the owners of San Francisco’s Sir Francis Drake sold their $4-million hotel for only $275,000.

Hilton established the Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1946 and became the first ever publicly traded hotel. Later in 1949, Hilton leased New York City’s Waldof –Astoria which was arguably the best hotel in the world at that time. He also purchased Statler’s chain of hotels and called them Hilton Hotels. His hotels numbered 28 at this time.

He continued to expand his fortune outside US. His first offshore hotel was in Madrid. This gave birth to Hilton Hotels International. By the time of his death in1979, Hilton Hotels owned 185 Us-based hotels and 75 international hotels.

Alan Greenspan’s Contribution to the US Federal Reserve

Alan Greenspan is arguably the most influential think-thank to ever persuade the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.  Among his most notable decisions as member of the Board of Governors from 1987 to 2006 included those that pertain to inflation, interest rates and issues that have direct effects on the US housing market.

Before President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the Federal Reserve, he has helped a lot of other companies in a capacity of director, such as J. P. Morgan & Co., Automatic Data Processing Inc., Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, and General Foods Inc. among others.

During Greenspan’s stint as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the US went through a difficult economic crisis which included the stock market crash of the 1980s.

Greenspan was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom after serving five terms as Chairman. He went into consulting after the end of is fifth term in January of 2006.

Henry Ford: His Legacy Lives On

Henry Ford is more popularly known as the founder of the multi-million dollar car manufacturer Ford Motors Corporation. He authored the car revolution in the US which resulted in mass production of cars and the exploding car ownership throughout the country.

Ford was a native of Dearborn, Michigan. He was the eldest of six siblings who grew up in the family farm. Although there was much opportunity for work in the land, Ford believed that the jobs available could not provide sufficient income.

He started in 1879 as an apprentice machinist. Later In 1893, Ford became the chief engineer at Edison Illuminating Company.

Ford had an insatiable passion for machines. In 1893, Ford became successful in creating a self-propelled, gasoline-fueled quadricycle. This led to the opening of the Detroit Automobile Company.

The new automobile company was short-lived because of financial difficulty. The bankruptcy gave birth to the Ford Motor Company in 1903. The Ford Motor Company fist developed the T car. Because the production of the T car was very expensive, it was accessible only to the wealthy. Ford began improving its manufacturing processes until the T car was mass produced in 1918. 15 million T cars were sold after that.

Ford also tried his luck in politics when he ran for senator under the Democratic Party. However, he lost his senatorial bid. He also had liberal views about labor and was the only employer paying his workers more for lesser working days. His employees work for only 5 days or a total of 40 working hours per week.

Ford also had his way of returning his favors by establishing the Ford Foundation in 1936. His philanthropic and charitable events included promotion of human welfare through research grants for the education and development.

Ford died in 1947 at the age 83 after suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage.