Herbalife is experiencing the Icahn effect.
Shares of Herbalife, a nutritional supplements company, jumped as much as 17 percent in early trading on Friday, after Carl C. Icahn disclosed a 12.98 percent stake in the company. The stock price then fell slightly, to around $42.50 a share, as investors locked in gains.
For Mr. Icahn, the stock’s rise must be particularly sweet.
While his stake in Herbalife may very well be a bet on vitamins and protein shakes, it also puts him squarely in opposition to a longtime rival, the hedge fund manager William A. Ackman, who revealed in December a big wager that Herbalife shares would fall.
Herbalife has become a venue for a fresh dispute between the two financial titans, whose beef extends back a decade. M.. Icahn and Mr. Ackman, head of Pershing Square Capital Management, engaged in a heated argument on live television on Jan. 25, riveting traders across Wall Street.
And now, on Friday at noon, Mr. Icahn is scheduled to appear again on CNBC, presumably to discuss his newly disclosed investment.
Last month’s show will be a hard act to follow, but the appearance on Friday will no doubt be closely watched.
“Hey listen, I didn’t get on to be bullied by you,†Mr. Icahn barked at the CNBC host on Jan. 25, after being asked to discuss Herbalife. “I want to say what I want to say. And I’m not going to talk about my Herbalife position because you want to bully me.â€
As a regulatory filing revealed on Thursday, M! r. Icahn did indeed have a stake in Herbalife at that point, but he was more interested in arguing with his rival.
In the following weeks, Mr. Icahn ramped up his purchases of Herbalife stock and options, accumulating a stake of about 14 million shares.
Mr. Ackman contended in December that Herbalife was a fraud, saying he was short-selling the company’s shares. Mr. Icahn, though, predicted during his television appearance that Herbalife could be “the mother of all short squeezes,†in which shares substantially rise.
