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Just when you thought the great Herbalife hedge-fund smackdown couldn’t get any more brutal. . .
Billionaires Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn went toe-to-toe on a live 30-minute TV debate yesterday, trading insults and put-downs like a couple of schoolyard toughs.
Each took turns trashing the other’s reputation — and at least twice Icahn called Ackman’s accusations “bull**it,” the profanity going out live on the air.
The slugfest — which was moderated by a CNBC host at the channel’s New York Stock Exchange studio — so captivated floor traders that when either billionaire landed a solid verbal blow, a very audible “Whoa!” could be heard from the traders below.
It was not unlike the reaction from the crowd at a heavyweight fight when one boxer gets knocked to the floor.
Icahn called Ackman a “crybaby in a schoolyard,” while Ackman shot back: “Carl Icahn does not have a good reputation for being a handshake guy.”
Icahn counter-punched, calling his adversary a liar and a “major loser.”
“This is a guy who takes advantage of little people,” Ackman retorted.
The debate continued at a heated pace nearly from start to finish — with CNBC not even breaking for commercial spots.
As the two traded barbs — most of which centered on a 10-year-old legal battle that Ackman finally won in 2011 — Herbalife shares danced like an EKG readout, but eventually settled pretty much unchanged after the half-hour. The stock closed at $43.59, up 0.8 percent.
Ackman originally went on CNBC’s Fast Money Half Time Report to rebut charges Icahn had leveled against him over his battle with Herbalife, saying Ackman should not have gone public with his complaints.
Ackman announced with great fanfare on Dec. 19 that he made a $1 billion short bet against the nutritional supplements company because he thinks it’s a pyramid scheme that will be shut down by regulators.
At first, Ackman’s appearance via phone on CNBC was a solo act — merely to rebut Icahn’s charges from the previous day.
But then Ackman, somewhat reluctantly, agreed to let Icahn, also on the phone, join in.
The rest was TV gold.
Though the venom came from both sides, their styles could not have been more different: Icahn the tough-talking street fighter, Ackman the cool sophisticate marshaling his facts.
Icahn even attacked CNBC moderator Scott Wapner when he asked the veteran investor to confirm that he is long on Herbalife, which The Post reported exclusively on Jan. 10.
“I didn’t get on here to be bullied by you,” Icahn shot back. “I’m not going to talk about my Herbalife position.”
Later, when he defended Herbalife against Ackman’s short, Icahn admitted “I wouldn’t care if it was anybody else but Ackman.”
Said Ackman: “He is not used to someone standing up to him.”
Jabs and jeers
Highlights of the TV debate between Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman
Icahn: He is like the crybaby in the schoolyard.
Ackman: Carl has been maligning my reputation.
Ackman: Carl Icahn does not have a good reputation for being a handshake guy.
Icahn: Ackman is a liar, OK?
Icahn: I couldn’t figure out if he was the most sanctimonious guy I ever met in my life or the most arrogant.
Ackman: The big issue about Carl Icahn is he is not used to someone standing up to him, and particularly a little guy likeme in 2003.
Ackman: No. 1, Carl is free to make a tender offer for the company. Carl, you want to bid for the company, go ahead and bid for the company.
Icahn: You don’t have to tell me what I’m free to do.
Ackamn: OK. No. 2 … what I thank Carl for is he certainly helped highlight Herbalife and the issues at Herbalife and my guess is that Carl bought Herbalife. If he did … he made a good trade. Congratulations on a good trade. We believe it’s a pyramid scheme.
Icahn: I appreciate, Bill, that you called me a great investor. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for you.
Ackamn: I think that Carl either has a very, very bad memory or he had trouble with the truth. [After losing a lawsuit to me], he called me up and literally said, “Bill, we can be friends now.” I simply said to him, “Look, Carl, you are no friend of mine.”
Icahn: That’s nonsense. I never said that I want to be friends with you, Bill.
Ackamn: OK, Carl.
Icahn: You said to me, you’d like to be friends so that we could invest together.
Ackman: OK, Carl. You think I want to invest with you?
Icahn: I wouldn’t do business with you if you were the last man on Earth.