Pick a company, any company.
The odds are that Carl Celian Icahn once owned a stake in it.
He's been doing so for years, and shows no sign of letting up: Bloomberg reported this week the 76-year-old was about to purchase a stake in a Brazilian mining company from Phil Falcone.
We wanted to see how Icahn made his billions.
Like most truly successful Americans, Icahn came from humble origins.
Icahn was born in 1936. His father was a synagogue cantor (though apparently an atheist); his mother a school teacher. He attended Far Rockaway High School in Queens.
Source: Icahn report
He worked his way into Princeton, where he majored in Philosophy.
He graduated in 1957.
Source: Icahn report
After brief stints at med school and the army, Icahn joined legendary mutual fund manager Dreyfus & Co.
Dreyfus merged with Mellon in 1994.
Source: Icahn report
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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