Billionaire Carl Icahn aims to overhaul rules

Washington: President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday he is naming billionaire Carl Icahn, a vocal critic of government overregulation, to serve as a special adviser to overhaul “strangling regulations.”

The 80-year-old Icahn, who is known as aggressive, activist investor in the companies he is involved with, will not be a government employee, will not receive a salary and will not be bound by ethics rules requiring him to divest his investments.

Mr Icahn already reportedly helped Mr Trump pick candidates to fill his Cabinet, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world’s great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated,” Mr Trump said in a statement.

“He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies. His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable.”

Mr Icahn said that “Under President Obama, America’s business owners have been crippled by over $1 trillion in new regulations and over 750 billion hours dealing with paperwork. It’s time to break free of excessive regulation and let our entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs and support communities.”