Carl Icahn once said, “The boards of directors in this country are not doing their job, and that is why Wall Street is in such trouble.”

In 2009, famous billionaire investor Carl Icahn sharply criticized the boards of directors of major corporations and their lack of control over CEOs, blaming them for many of Wall Street's financial problems.

“The problem in this country is that we are not accountable. The boards of directors in this country are not doing their jobs, and that is why we have these problems on Wall Street,” Icahn said in an interview with ABC News.

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He stressed that these boards ignored obvious warnings about risky financial practices, particularly those involving mortgage-backed securities, which contributed to the financial crisis. Despite the damage these risky deals caused, top CEOs collected huge bonuses while shareholders were the real losers. Icahn called this situation “unfair and wrong.”

He also condemned the practice of paying huge salaries to CEOs who do not do a good job, calling it an “absolute disgrace” and criticizing corporate boards that often behave like a “brotherhood” where everyone is too friendly and no one asks the difficult questions.

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According to him, this is the reason why less capable people run companies: these CEOs make sure that no one who is smarter than them gets promoted. He said: “[The CEO] would never hire someone smarter than him as his assistant because that could be a threat. So CEOs, with many exceptions, are getting dumber and dumber.”

Curiously, in 2024, Icahn is involved in a situation that echoes some of the concerns he has raised in the past. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Icahn and his company, Icahn Enterprises, over the disclosure of certain financial details, particularly his use of company stock as collateral for personal loans. This review followed a report by Hindenburg Research that raised questions about the company's valuation practices.

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Although Icahn admitted no wrongdoing, his company's stock price suffered a significant decline, losing more than 20 percent last year. Icahn and his company agreed to pay $2 million.

In some ways, this situation raises the same questions that Icahn has been addressing for years. Boards of directors are critical to ensuring that companies are run properly, and if they don't keep a close eye on things, it can create big problems for companies and their shareholders.

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This article, which Carl Icahn once said: “The CEOs in this country are not doing their jobs, and that is why there are problems on Wall Street,” originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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