The last time billionaire Carl Icahn dabbled in Caesars Entertainment, the company was a financial mess.
So it might seem perplexing that the 89-year-old activist investor is following the same path he took seven years ago, which led to the company’s eventual $17.3 billion sale to the much smaller Eldorado Resorts.
When Icahn acquired an undisclosed stake in the casino operator last June, he told CNBC how much he liked the company and said he “would never do activism in Caesars.”
Caesars, which has 58 properties in the U.S. and Canada, said last month its net revenue in 2024 was $11.2 billion, with $4.2 billion coming from its Las Vegas resorts.
Icahn still loves Caesars, but he is no longer a silent investor.
Last week, Caesars announced it had installed two of his lieutenants — Ichan Enterprises general counsel Jesse Lynn and Chief Financial Officer Ted Papapostolou — to the company’s board. The move expanded the board to 12 directors, 10 of whom are independent.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission the day following the statement, Caesars said Icahn controls almost 10.6 million company shares — a little less than 5 percent of the company. In 2018, when he oversaw a corporate management shake-up, he controlled 25 percent of the company.
Last week, Caesars CEO Tom Reeg welcomed Lynn and Papapostolou to the board, saying they bring “diverse and relevant experience” to the panel that includes retired Caesars executive and former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones Blackhurst and former Republican Party official Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., who was the founding CEO of the American Gaming Association.
In the same statement, Icahn backed Caesars and the company’s senior management. He also hinted at some activism, saying he would be involved with “exploring strategic alternatives for the company’s underappreciated digital business,” which includes sports betting and online gaming.
Jefferies Financial gaming analyst David Katz wrote in a March 18 research note that Icahn’s involvement in the company seemed “amicable” and should be a positive given his record of finding efficiency within a business and creating overall value.
