Billionaire investor Carl Icahn spoke with FBN’s Liz Claman regarding Google’s (GOOG) $12.5 billion deal to purchase Motorola Mobility. Icahn said he didn’t think “anybody would have bought the whole company” and it was crucial that the Mobility part of the business was spun off in order to complete the deal. Icahn went on to discuss the recent op-ed by Warren Buffett saying, “wealthy can and should pay more. I don’t think they would fight it too much.” Excerpts from the interview can be found below, courtesy of Fox Business Network.
On the purchase of Motorola Mobility:
“It was a good payday from Friday to Monday. We wouldn’t have been able to do this if you hadn’t had that spin off. I don’t think anybody would have bought the whole company. Google made a good purchase. Every once in a while you see a no brainer.”
On his offer for Clorox:
“My offer was completely serious. We had the money and we could have done it. Clorox management doesn’t fit in the same bucket as Forest Labs. Clorox could do a number of things, we like the stock, but they have done a much better job than the Forest Labs Group. It’s all relative. The Motorola management had done a terrible job with the operating system; that’s why we fought so hard to bring in Sanjay and get the company spun off. Sanjay did a fine job and cleaned that operation up. Sanjay gets a lot of the credit if not most of it for bringing this deal about. ”
On Warren Buffett’s Op-Ed stating that the wealthy should pay higher taxes:
“I agree with what Buffett is saying. I think the wealthy can and should pay more. I don’t think they would fight it too much.”
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