Carl Icahn: Restore Glass-Steagall, Curb 'Too Big To Fail'

Bring back New Deal regulation of Wall Street, billionaire investor Carl Icahn said during an interview with Neil Cavuto on Fox News Tuesday.

“What they should really do is go back to Glass-Steagall,” Icahn said, referring to the 1933 law that required separation of commercial and investment banks. It was repealed in 1999, which he said contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. Icahn added that he supported the Volcker rule, which limits banks' speculative investments with their capital.

Going further, he said banks that are “too big to fail” should be nationalized to protect investors and the economy at large.

The interview opened with a brief discussion of Icahn’s recent announcement that he would withdraw his call for Apple to pay more money to its shareholders, where he emphasized his commitment to the company.

“I absolutely have no intention of selling my shares,” he said. “The company is undervalued.”

Icahn, 77, has an estimated net worth of $20 billion and invoked his years of investing experience to back up his ideas about corporate governance.

“The problem with companies is that most of them are terribly run,” he said.

But beyond the corporate world, he had a lot to say about the government as well.

"[President Barack] Obama could have done more in investing and really putting the money out there,” Icahn said, noting that he paid a lot of attention to political news, but “it doesn’t do much good.”

He opined that Obamacare had been “stretched too much” and that businesses don’t make good health care providers.

Moving away from Washington, Icahn also had a lot to say about New York City.

He spoke about the benefits of charter schools, and the “amazing” things they can do when not hindered by bureaucracy, adding that disparity is a growing problem in American society.

The billionaire did acknowledge that he wouldn’t have been able to achieve what he has in a society that didn’t allow such upward mobility – but it still isn’t perfect.

“My friends are gonna hate me for this, but there’s a huge divide between the rich and poor in this city,” he said.