Billionaire investor Carl Icahn sold out of Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the rental-car company that filed for bankruptcy last week, calling off a roughly six-year bet that lost him almost $1.6 billion.
Icahn, 84, sold his entire 55.3 million shares on Tuesday for 72 cents a share, according to a regulatory filing. His holding represented about 39 percent of the company’s stock.
“Hertz has encountered major financial difficulties and I support the board in their conclusion to file for bankruptcy protection,” Icahn said in the filing Wednesday. “Yesterday I sold my equity position at a significant loss, but this does not mean that I don’t continue to have faith in the future of Hertz.”
Icahn’s exit marks the end of what was a tumultuous and disappointing investment. He first took a position in the company in 2014 to agitate for the ouster of then-CEO Mark Frissora, and Hertz is on its fourth CEO since then. When the coronavirus then decimated the travel industry, the…
