The genesis of their feud stems from a nasty contractual dispute involving a real estate company deal 10 years ago, when Ackman was running his former hedge fund, Gotham Partners, which he co-founded in 1993 with former Harvard Business School classmate David Berkowitz.
After eight years of litigation, a court ruled in Ackman’s favor and Icahn was forced to pay Gotham $4.5 million, plus interest.
Indeed, the discussion on CNBC often had little to do with the merits of Ackman’s view of Herbalife. At times, Icahn also feuded with CNBC host Scott Wapner, accusing him of “bullying” him when he was pressed on whether he had gone “long” on Herbalife shares.
Icahn may have little to lose from the dustup given that he is simply managing his own money these days. Ackman, on the other hand, manages about $11 billion at Pershing Square, including money from many prominent institutional investors.
