The Wall Street Journal-20080206-Icahn Set to Host Blog On Corporate Abuses

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Icahn Set to Host Blog On Corporate Abuses

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Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is going blogging.

The activist hedge-fund operator, who has taken on companies including Motorola Inc. and Time Warner Inc., said yesterday he is looking to start a blog to highlight what he sees as management problems at public companies, including those he hasn't invested in.

"I may do something to finally focus on more than making money," said Mr. Icahn, who is agitating for board seats at Motorola and Biogen Idec Inc.

For now, the site -- Icahnreport.com -- just shows a picture of Mr. Icahn sitting on a desk along with the promise "Blog Coming Soon."

Mr. Icahn said at a corporate governance conference in Midtown Manhattan that he wants to be sure the site will garner enough interest before launching it officially. In the meantime, he encouraged attendees to email him and join what he called a "grass- roots" project.

According to Mr. Icahn, the site would feature reports written or directed by him taking shots at things shareholders should find objectionable, such as excessive compensation or fancy perks amid poor performance. He said he will focus the reports on companies he doesn't own shares in for legal reasons unless he's openly targeting them for change.

Broadening his themes, Mr. Icahn said the U.S. is losing its dominant position in the world and blamed corporate America for much of the country's economic woes.

"One of the reasons we can't compete is management," he said. "There's so much waste."

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Joseph Checkler contributed to this article.