Carl Icahn is close to losing his paper profits in Herbalife.
The 77-year-old corporate activist is barely above water after shares in the Los Angeles company closed yesterday at $37.31, down 1.6 percent.
Herbalife shares have dropped in each of the past seven trading days, or since March 8 — when news of the last Icahn stock purchases buoyed the shares.
Since closing at $41.50 on that date, Herbalife shares are off 10 percent — taking most of Icahn’s profits with them, according to calculations by The Post.
Icahn has taken a 15.5 percent stake in the distributor of nutritional and weight loss supplements opposite his arch-nemesis Bill Ackman, who has a $1 billion short on the company that he has claimed is a pyramid scheme. Herbalife has denied the accusation.
Between March 4 and March 7, Icahn bought 2.3 million shares at about $41 per share, boosting his ownership to 15.5 percent and raising his average cost from the $36 per share he said he paid for his original 13 percent stake to an estimated $36.90.
That gives him an estimated $6.7 million profit on shares he purchased for about $602 million.
Hedgie Ackman, on the other hand, now has booked an estimated profit of more than $250 million on his Herbalife position, based on his short bet of more than 20 million shares at about $50 a share.
Icahn — who can buy up to 25 percent of Herbalife’s shares — hasn’t bought any since March 7.
The stock’s decline has also followed a national consumer group’s request last week that regulators investigate Ackman’s claim.
Icahn, who did not return a call for comment, also has gotten approval from Herbalife to add two people to its board of directors. In exchange, he agreed not to sell stock for a year unless it goes above $73.