Carl Icahn tweeted on Wednesday that he was out of Netflix (NFLX). He received an awfully lovely parting gift.
The famed investor made a reported $2 billion on his investment in the online streaming service. After announcing a 7-for-1 stock split on Tuesday, Netflix stock reached a record high Wednesday just before Icahn sold the last of his shares.
Icahn became one of Netflix’s largest shareholders in 2012 after taking a 10% stake at $58 per share. He acquired the stock with the expectation that the company would soon be acquired. Icahn’s prediction was wrong but the trade still paid off. Since the fall of 2012, Netflix’s stock has spiked more than 12-fold and has nearly doubled in this year alone.