Why HBO’s ‘Icahn: The Restless Billionaire’ Doesn’t Mention the Financier’s Work for Donald Trump

variety.com:

Addie Morfoot ContributorBack in the mid-1980’s, Oliver Stone met with famed financier Carl Icahn about a movie he was writing called “Wall Street.” The meeting provided the director with much of the inspiration for the film’s villain Gordon Gekko.

Stone speaks about the meeting in HBO’s documentary “Icahn: The Restless Billionaire,” debuting on Feb. 15. Along with Stone, the 100-minute docu features interviews with Icahn, his wife Gail and children Brett and Michelle.Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and business journalists including Andrew Ross Sorkin (New York Times), Cara Lombardo (The Wall Street Journal) and Rana Foroohar (Financial Times) also help director Bruce David Klein unpack many of the octogenarian billionaire’s legendary business dealings.

Corporate deals that include Icahn’s takeover of TWA in the 1980s, his 2013 high-profile investment in Apple, which provoked a stock rise of $17 billion dollars, his public battle with Bill Ackman over Herbalife that same year, and his role in the 1988 Texaco bankruptcy.

The docu also shines a human light on Icahn – a polarizing character who is widely known as ruthless corporate raider.Variety spoke to Klein about convincing Icahn to be the subject of a docu, making complicated financial terminology understandable and why the director decided to leave the billionaire’s relationship with Donald Trump on the cutting room floor.Why a film about Carl Icahn now?People know that Carl is a multi-billionaire and that he’s successful and that he’s feared and that he is a great negotiator, but I wanted to explore what is it really about his unique makeup and his extreme complexity that allows him to surpass the best of the best in the financial world.