卡尔·伊坎是一位典型的独行侠。这位企业收购界的黑暗王子并不会像其竞争对手激进投资者一样，集结一批外部律师、投行家和公关公司，然后再发起进攻，而是依靠一支不到12人的内部金融分析师和律师团队，这支智囊团位于曼哈顿通用汽车大厦47楼，与这位82岁的老板一道不辞辛劳地工作着。但这仅仅是他的支持团队。至于合作伙伴，呵呵，有这个必要吗？

伊坎的公司Icahn Enterprises在今年的《财富》美国500强榜单上名列第136位，在财力方面基本上无需任何支持。他以现金和证券的形式握持着300多亿美元的战争基金。在策略方面，他也无需同行的任何谏言。令伊坎引以为自豪的是，他向董事会发送的那些臭名昭著的攻击信件都由他亲自执笔，而且会在信中大肆地对那些鸵鸟般“不敢面对现实”的董事或那些为了“蝇头小利”而同意出售公司的董事进行冷嘲热讽。

Carl Icahn typically works alone. The dark prince of corporate raiders shuns the usual clutch of outside attorneys, investment bankers, and PR firms that rival activists assemble for their assaults. Instead, Icahn relies on an in-house team of fewer than a dozen financial analysts and lawyers, a brain trust that toils alongside their controversial, 82-year-old boss on the 47th floor of Manhattan’s General Motors Building. But that’s just his support staff. As for partners, well, what’s the point?

Icahn, whose Icahn Enterprises ranks No. 136 on this year’s Fortune 500, hardly needs any financial backing. He commands a war chest in cash and securities of more than $30 billion. Neither does he crave any counsel from peers on strategy. Icahn prides himself on personally composing the notorious attack letters he sends to boards of directors, piling on outraged barbs to skewer “ostrich” directors “with their heads in the sand” or those who’ve agreed to sell their companies “for a bowl of porridge.”

插图： IAMALWAYSHUNGRY；伊坎：NEILSON BARNARD——由GETTY IMAGES为《纽约时报》提供；古森：AKIO KON—BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

2015年底，当施乐成为伊坎的目标时，他无疑是打算再次启用孤军作战的战术。这家辉煌一时的企业对于伊坎来说是一个完美的候选目标。施乐由两个毫不相关的业务组成，而且它们的业绩均不尽如人意，一项业务是其传统的办公产品；另一项则是一个名为业务流程外包（BPO）的庞大部门，为公司和政府提供后台账单支付和数据处理服务。伊坎认为，他可以通过劝说施乐剥离其BPO业务来收拾这个残局。施乐目前是一个没人想买的烂摊子，但它可以分拆成两家专业公司，而这两个公司都可能会成为拥有高溢价的收购对象。如果拆分后仍没有买家立即抛出橄榄枝，伊坎认为他可以通过更换管理层来改善业绩，并通过抬升两家公司的股价来改善盈利。

伊坎向《财富》杂志透露：“施乐是我所见过的经营最差的公司之一。公司的两大业务均存在管理不善的问题。稍微有点头脑的人都会将其拆分，并聘请新管理层。施乐在利用自身强大的品牌方面毫无建树，有多少家公司的品牌还能够作为人们所熟知的动词（xerox的动词意思为“用静电复印法复印”——译注）来用？”

伊坎在2017年初实现了其目标，当时，施乐剥离了其BPO业务，后者成立了一家名为Conduent的新公司。事实证明，这笔交易的一半到目前为止已经大获成功：Conduent呈现出了一片欣欣向荣的景象，其稳健的股票业绩为伊坎带来了超过1亿美元的回报。

It was certainly Icahn’s intention to go it alone again when, in late 2015, he identified Xerox as a target. The once-great company was an ideal candidate for Icahn. It consisted of two divergent businesses, both of which were performing poorly—its traditional office products franchise, and a large division that provided back-office bill-paying and data processing services to companies and governments, a field called business process outsourcing (BPO). Icahn reckoned that he could clean up by prodding Xerox to spin off its BPO arm. Instead of a muddled mass no one wanted to buy, Xerox would split into two pure-play companies—either of which could be a takeover target at a fat premium. If buyers didn’t show up right away, Icahn figured he could improve performance by installing new management and profit by driving up each company’s stock price.

“Xerox was one of the worst-run companies I ever saw,” Icahn tells Fortune. “Both sides of the business were being mismanaged. It was a no-brainer to split it up and bring in new management. Xerox was doing nothing with a great brand—how many companies have a name that doubles as a famous verb?”

Icahn got his way when, at the beginning of 2017, Xerox spun off the BPO business as a new company called Conduent. And so far that half of the deal has proved a winner: Conduent has flourished, and its solid stock performance has generated a return of more than $100 million for Icahn.

富士董事长兼首席执行官古森重隆数十年来一直渴望收购施乐公司。摄影师：AKIO KON图片来源：BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES