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Icahn Dumps $550 Million Lyft Stake To George Soros Ahead Of IPO Debacle
Some time before the epic collapse of LYFT's post-IPO-open share price, billionaire investor Carl Icahn sold his roughly 2.7% (or around $550 Million) stake in the cash-burning ride-hailing venture.
The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to people familiar with the matter, Jonathan Christodoro, a former Icahn Capital LP managing director who sat on Lyft’s board until last month, facilitated the sale of Mr. Icahn’s stake.
Mr. Christodoro, Mr. Icahn’s designee on the Lyft board, resigned in March, the company said in a filing that month without giving a reason. Mr. Icahn could have chosen to replace Mr. Christodoro with another representative, but didn’t.
And well-timed it was. Just as Icahn bought-the-f##king-dip on Trump's election night, his sale of this speculative stake before the stock tumbled 25% from its post-IPO-open is fortuitous to say the least.
While the exact timing and motivation of Icahn’s move wasn’t clear, it is the alleged buyer of Icahn's stake that caught many people's attention…
Icahn reportedly sold his stake to fellow billionaire George Soros.
While WSJ notes that it isn’t clear what price Mr. Soros paid, with the stock trading well below its IPO price, he is likely not so enthused as he remains subject to a lockup that expires in 180 days that prohibits Lyft's pre-IPO investors from selling shares.
But the investment was a very successful one for the 83 year-old Mr. Icahn. He had invested roughly $100 million in Lyft in 2015 at a valuation of $2.5 billion, and later added $50 million at the same valuation. The IPO valued Lyft at $24 billion, or $72 a share, though he likely sold it for a bit less than that.
Finally, WSJ notes that the activist investor, who rarely invests in private companies, had been unhappy with Lyft’s plan to use super-voting shares to give its two founders near-majority voting rights, some of the people said.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-03/icahn-dumps-550-million-lyft-stake-george-soros-ahead-ipo-debacle