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Carl Icahn's commodities bets are backfiring
(REUTERS/Rebecca Cook)
Commodities have taken a battering, and it's taking a toll on some hedge fund managers who have made big bets on the industry.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Carl Icahn's bets in the sector are backfiring spectacularly.
Icahn invested in liquid-natural-gas company Cheniere Energy and gold and copper producer Freeport-McMoRan last fall.
Both have dropped significantly in price since.
Freeport is down around 57% since Icahn's investment was disclosed, while Cheniere is down around 50%.
Icahn has a history of poorly timed commodities bets.
In October 2014, Icahn took a stake in Canadian energy company Talisman.
The company's stock then cratered 71% before he was able to unload it in December 2014.
Energy was Icahn's third-largest sector holding as of September 2015, according to an investor presentation published on Icahn Enterprises' website:
(Icahn Enterprises)
It has been a bloodbath in commodities recently, with brent crude oil, the international oil benchmark, falling below $29 at one point on Friday.
Icahn said in an interview in December that the oil price could fall further.
"I don't think anybody thought it would be this bad because you obviously have the Middle East, Saudi Arabia just keep pumping and pumping and pumping oil," he said. "And that's a secular change that you can’t do anything about. It's a political thing also."
"I think it will, it could very easily get worse. And eventually, I think it will get better, but it could get worse," he added.
We've reached out to Icahn Enterprises for comment and will update if we hear back.
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