Carl Icahn Defends His Track Record, Says He Made Investors Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn's appointment to advise President-elect Donald Trump is receiving its share of criticism.

Icahn was given the opportunity to defend himself against his critics, including Andrew Stoltmann, a partner at the securities law firm Stoltmann Law.

Stoltmann was quoted by USA Today as saying that by tapping Icahn to advise, the president is essentially "asking the fox to guard the hen house."

Speaking as a guest on CNBC's "Halftime Report," Icahn touted the fact that he has rewarded shareholders over the last 30 years by interfering in companies that may have not necessarily been acting in investors' best interests in maximizing value.

"I don't even understand the statement," he continued. "Just look at my record — you go from Time Warner Inc TWX to Reynolds Tobacco [Reynolds American, Inc. RAI] to Forest Labs [Forest Laboratories, Inc. FRX] — these are a few I can think off hand, and there are 30 of them. We made hundreds of billions of dollars for shareholders."

Icahn went on to reiterate a view he has held for a long time: If the country wants to become more productive and create new jobs, there needs to be better accountability in corporate America. This will be an area that Icahn takes very seriously and hopes to bring in change at the national level.

Image Credit: By Caleb Smith; Office of the Speaker of the House [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons