While Icahn's name is now synonymous with titanic corporate battles, the Queens, N.Y., native seemed at first to be heading for a peaceful career as a teacher or doctor, earning a degree in philosophy at Princeton and attending medical school before dropping out to pursue arbitrage on Wall Street. During the 1980s he made a fortune for himself in his forays against companies ranging from American Can to Uniroyal (and profits for shareholders too in the case of Texaco and, later, RJR Nabisco), despite a few high-profile misses. But it wasn't until recent years that Icahn began assembling the infrastructure he has now, with three main investment vehicles.

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