He has already built stakes in Cadbury Schweppes and Kraft Foods, and is understood to have influenced the spin-off of Cadbury's American drinks division from the confectionery business.
So much so that he's built stakes in General Motors, Chrysler, and now Ford Motor to try and create value.
And now may be a good time to use them to build stakes in some market heavyweights that have been beaten down but may be poised to rebound.
India's regulators help, too; they talk a good game about corporate governance but do not require top-notch accounting and let firms build stakes in others without buying out all minority shareholders.
Motivated less by broad governance concerns and more by financial ones, activist funds build stakes in firms and use their clout to push for changes in strategy, from putting the company up for sale to putting their own people on the board.
DealBook » LVMH Is Fined Over Stake in Hermes | The French market regulator said it had fined LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton about $10.4 billion for having stealthily built a stake in Hermès International, The New York Times reports.
The Russian retail tycoon Alexander Mamut has built a stake of 5% in recent months.
Berkshire Hathaway built its stake over the last eight months, when I.B.M.'s share price climbed steadily.
Canadian regulators struck down the company's attempt at a poison pill as Mr. Icahn built his stake to 38 percent.
However, Sports Direct pulled out of takeover talks last week, having built its stake from less than 15% in May.
