Brett Icahn is the only son of self-made Billionaire Carl Icahn, who’s wealth as estimated by Forbes is somewhere in the range of $20.3 Billion (as of September 2013).

Unlike other rich kids who’ve spoilt themselves in their parent’s fortunes, Brett Icahn took the road less traveled and took interest in his father’s work.

Instead of sitting back and wait for the money to come rolling in, the billion dollar heir decided to seek the necessary skills to help him actively participate in his father’s company, the Icahn Capital Management.

Today our spotlight is on the billion dollar protégé.

Brett Icahn’s Bio

Name: Brett Icahn

Born: August 1979

Nationality: American

Occupation: Investment Analyst, Entrepreneur, Investor

Residence: Manhattan (New York)

Marital Status: Single (As of 2013)

Brett Icahn-Early Life

Brett Icahn is the only son of self-made Billionaire, Carl Icahn (born 1936) and Liba Trejbal, a former ballerina from the Czech Republic. His sister is Michelle Icahn.

He started showing interest in his father’s work when he was still a young boy and below is how his father (Carl Icahn) described him as:

Over the years Brett and I would take long walks every weekend. He was very responsive, always interested. He has a real good mind and he learned by osmosis. Brett saw me working all the time. Some of my cynicism about the business and Wall Street, he inherited that. He’d listen and learn a lot; he has a good talent for it. He took courses in accounting so he’d understand balance sheets. People in the office taught him a lot too. We’d look at different stuff and dig into it. He picked it up very well. He’s not one of those spoiled rich kids. (Courtesy of Forbes)

Brett Icahn graduated from Princeton University.

NB: Carl Icahn is the majority shareholder of Icahn Enterprises (NASDAQ: IEP) and number 18 in the Forbes 400. He’s position 26 in the global list of Billionaires and number 15 in the United States.

Brett Icahn Ventures Into Business

Brett Icahn kick started his business career by interning at Goldman Sachs after graduating from

Princeton University. He later directed art films.

He founded Myelin Media in 2001 then joined his father’s company, Icahn Enterprises, in 2002. He has been an investment analyst for Icahn Partners LP, Icahn Master, Icahn Master II, Icahn Master III and Icahn Partners Master Fund LP since June 2004.

Brett Icahn co-manages a hedge fund with David Schechter. The hedge fund had a return of 50% in 2011.

After hiring Brett as an investment analyst in 2002, Carl Icahn allocated $300 million to his son and David Schechter in April 2010. They were to invest in loans and securities of companies with less than $2 billion in equity value.

Their investments dubbed the Sargon portfolio generated a gross cumulative gain of 96% by the end of June (according to a July 27 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

In 2012, Carl Icahn agreed to allocate $3 billion to the Sargon portfolio which is run by his son Brett Icahn and business partner, David Schechter. Under the agreement, the duo was given the green light to invest in companies having stock market values between $750 million and $10 billion.

Brett Icahn-Other Roles

Below are some of the positions that Brett Icahn has held during his business career:

• Vice President of Modal LLC (current)
• Board of Directors of American Railcar Industries (since January 16, 2007)
• The Hain Celestial Group [NASDAQ: HAIN] (since July 2010)
• Director of Cadus Corporation (since 1^st July 2010)
• Director of Motricity Inc. (since January 2010).
• Board of Take-Two Interactive [NASDAQ: TTWO] (current)
• Board of Directors of HowStuffWorks (2007)

Brett Icahn-Hobbies

Brett enjoys playing chess with his father Carl. He was taught how to play the game by his old man and he usually emerges the winner. Father and son gamble thousands of dollars per game.

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