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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark one)

⌧   ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020

◻  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Transition Period from to

16690 Collins Avenue, PH-1

Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160

(305) 422-4100

16690 Collins Avenue, PH-1

Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160

(305) 422-4100

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined by Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act.

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act (Check One):

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ⌧

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

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The aggregate market value of Icahn Enterprises’ depositary units held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2020, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, based upon the closing price of depositary units on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) on such date was $860 million. As of February 26, 2021, there were 241,338,835 of Icahn Enterprises’ depositary units outstanding.

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EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”) is a joint report being filed by Icahn Enterprises L.P. and Icahn Enterprises Holdings L.P. Each registrant hereto is filing on its own behalf all of the information contained in this Report that relates to such registrant. Each registrant hereto is not filing any information that does not relate to such registrant, and therefore makes no representation as to any such information.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Report contains certain statements that are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or by Public Law 104-67. All statements included in this Report, other than statements that relate solely to historical fact, are “forward-looking statements.” Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance, achievements or events, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, or any statement that may relate to strategies, plans or objectives for, or potential results of, future operations, financial results, financial condition, business prospects, growth strategy or liquidity, and are based upon management’s current plans and beliefs or current estimates of future results or trends. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by phrases such as “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “should,” “seeks,” “predicts,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “projects,” “estimates,” “plans,” “could,” “designed,” “should be” and other similar expressions that denote expectations of future or conditional events rather than statements of fact.

Forward-looking statements include certain statements made under the caption, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” under Item 7 of this Report, but also forward-looking statements that appear in other parts of this Report. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on certain assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from trends, plans, or expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties may include the risks and uncertainties described elsewhere in this Report, including under the caption “Risk Factors,” under Item 1A of this Report. Additionally, there may be other factors not presently known to us or which we currently consider to be immaterial that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements.

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SUMMARY RISK FACTORS

Investing in our securities involves certain risks. Before investing in any of our securities, you should carefully consider the following summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky as well as the risks described under the caption “Risk Factors,” under Item 1A of this Report. If any of these risks actually occurs, it could have a material adverse effect on our businesses. The risks described below and under the caption “Risk Factors,” under Item 1A of this Report are not the only risks that affect our businesses. Additional risks that are unknown or not presently deemed significant may also have a material adverse effect on our businesses. The following is a summary of our risk factors that appear in Item 1A of this Report.

Risks Relating to Our Structure

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Risks Relating to Liquidity and Capital Requirements

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Risks Relating to Our Investment Segment

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Risks Relating to our Consolidated Operating Subsidiaries

Our consolidated operating subsidiaries are subject to various risks, including but not limited to:

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ICAHN ENTERPRISES L.P.

ICAHN ENTERPRISES HOLDINGS L.P.

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PART I

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Item 1. Business

Business Overview

Icahn Enterprises L.P. (“Icahn Enterprises”) is a master limited partnership formed in Delaware on February 17, 1987. Icahn Enterprises Holdings L.P. (“Icahn Enterprises Holdings”) is a limited partnership formed in Delaware on February 17, 1987. Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings are headquartered in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. References to “we,” “our” or “us” herein include both Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings and their subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires.

Icahn Enterprises owns a 99% limited partner interest in Icahn Enterprises Holdings. Icahn Enterprises G.P. Inc. (“Icahn Enterprises GP”), which is indirectly owned and controlled by Mr. Carl C. Icahn, owns a 1% general partner interest in each of Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings as of December 31, 2020. Icahn Enterprises Holdings and its subsidiaries own substantially all of our assets and liabilities and conduct substantially all of our operations. Therefore, the financial results of Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings are substantially the same, with differences relating primarily to the allocation of the general partner interest, which is reflected as an aggregate 1.99% general partner interest in the financial statements of Icahn Enterprises. Mr. Icahn and his affiliates owned approximately 92% of Icahn Enterprises’ outstanding depositary units as of December 31, 2020.

We are a diversified holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in the following operating businesses: Investment, Energy, Automotive, Food Packaging, Metals, Real Estate, Home Fashion and, as of December 2020, Pharma.

We conduct and plan to continue to conduct our activities in such a manner as not to be deemed an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Therefore, no more than 40% of our total assets can be invested in investment securities, as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act. In addition, we do not invest or intend to invest in securities as our primary business. We intend to structure our investments to continue to be taxed as a partnership rather than as a corporation under the applicable publicly traded partnership rules of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended.

Our business strategy and core strengths, and certain other business developments, are not disclosed in this Report since they are not materially different from prior disclosures, as described in Item 1 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 28, 2020, and which is incorporated by reference herein.

Business Description

Icahn Enterprises began as American Real Estate Partners L.P. in 1987 and currently operates a portfolio of eight diversified reporting segments. With the exception of our Investment segment, our operating segments primarily comprise independently operated businesses that we have obtained a controlling interest in through execution of our business strategy. Our Investment segment derives revenues from gains and losses from investment transactions. Our other operating segments derive revenues principally from net sales of various products, primarily within our Energy and Automotive segments, which together accounted for the significant majority of our consolidated net sales for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020. Our other operating segments’ revenues are also derived through various other revenue streams which primarily consists of automotive services and real estate leasing operations. The majority of our consolidated revenues are derived from customers in the United States. Our Food Packaging segment, and prior to August 2019, our Mining segment, accounted for the majority of our consolidated revenues derived from customers outside the United States.

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Holding Company

We seek to invest our available cash and cash equivalents in liquid investments with a view to enhancing returns as we continue to assess further acquisitions of, or investments in, operating businesses. As of December 31, 2020, we had investments with a fair market value of approximately $4.3 billion in the Investment Funds, as defined below. In addition, as of December 31, 2020, our Holding Company had various other investments, primarily equity investments, aggregating $366 million.

Investment

Our Investment segment is comprised of various private investment funds (“Investment Funds”) in which we have general partner interests and through which we invest our proprietary capital. We, certain of Mr. Icahn’s wholly-owned affiliates and Brett Icahn, son of Mr. Icahn, are the sole investors in the Investment Funds. As general partner, we provide investment advisory and certain administrative and back office services to the Investment Funds but do not provide such services to any other entities, individuals or accounts. Interests in the Investment Funds are not offered to outside investors.

Investment Strategy

The investment strategy of the Investment Funds is set and led by Mr. Icahn. The Investment Funds seek to acquire securities in companies that trade at a discount to inherent value as determined by various metrics, including replacement cost, break-up value, cash flow and earnings power and liquidation value.

The Investment Funds utilize a process-oriented, research-intensive, value-based investment approach. This approach generally involves three critical steps: (i) fundamental credit, valuation and capital structure analysis; (ii) intense legal and tax analysis of fulcrum issues such as litigation and regulation that often affect valuation; and (iii) combined business valuation analysis and legal and tax review to establish a strategy for gaining an attractive risk-adjusted investment position. This approach focuses on exploiting market dislocations or misjudgments that may result from market euphoria, litigation, complex contingent liabilities, corporate malfeasance and weak corporate governance, general economic conditions or market cycles and complex and inappropriate capital structures.

The Investment Funds often act as activist investors ready to take the steps necessary to seek to unlock value, including through tender offers, proxy contests and demands for management accountability. The Investment Funds may employ a number of strategies and are permitted to invest across a variety of industries and types of securities, including long and short equities, long and short bonds, bank debt and other corporate obligations, options, swaps and other derivative instruments thereof, risk arbitrage and capital structure arbitrage and other special situations. The Investment Funds invest a material portion of their capital in publicly traded equity and debt securities of companies that they believe to be undervalued by the marketplace. The Investment Funds often take significant positions in the companies in which they invest.

Income

Our Investment segment’s income or loss is driven by the amount of funds allocated to the Investment Funds and the performance of the underlying investments in the Investment Funds. Funds allocated to the Investment Funds are based on the net contributions and redemptions by our Holding Company, by Mr. Icahn and his affiliates and by Brett Icahn.

Affiliate Investments

We and Mr. Icahn, along with the Investment Funds, have entered into a covered affiliate agreement, which was amended on March 31, 2011, pursuant to which Mr. Icahn agreed (on behalf of himself and certain of his affiliates, excluding Icahn Enterprises, Icahn Enterprises Holdings and their subsidiaries) to be bound by certain restrictions on their investments in any assets that we deem suitable for the Investment Funds, other than government and agency bonds and cash equivalents, unless otherwise approved by our Audit Committee. In addition, Mr. Icahn and such affiliates

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continue to have the right to co-invest with the Investment Funds. We have no interest in, nor do we generate any income from, any such co-investments, which have been and may continue to be substantial.

Energy

We conduct our Energy segment through our majority owned subsidiary, CVR Energy, Inc. (“CVR Energy”). CVR Energy is headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas. CVR Energy is a reporting company under the Exchange Act and files annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC that are publicly available.

CVR Energy is a diversified holding company primarily engaged in the petroleum refining and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing businesses through its holdings in CVR Refining, LP (“CVR Refining”) and CVR Partners, LP (“CVR Partners”), respectively. CVR Refining is an independent petroleum refiner and marketer of high value transportation fuels. CVR Partners produces and markets nitrogen fertilizers in the form of ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate (“UAN”). CVR Energy has a general partner interest in each of CVR Refining and CVR Partners. In addition, CVR Energy is the sole limited partner of CVR Refining and owns 36% of the outstanding common units of CVR Partners as of December 31, 2020.

As of December 31, 2020, we owned approximately 71% of the total outstanding common stock of CVR Energy.

Our Energy segment’s net sales for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 represented approximately 58%, 65% and 67%, respectively, of our consolidated net sales, primarily from the sale of its petroleum products.

Products, Raw Materials and Supply

CVR Refining has the capability to process a variety of crude oil blends. CVR Refining’s oil refineries in Coffeyville, Kansas and Wynnewood, Oklahoma have a combined capacity of 206,500 barrels per day. In addition to the use of third-party pipelines for the supply of crude oil, CVR Refining has an extensive gathering system consisting of logistics assets that are owned, leased or part of a joint venture operation. Petroleum refining product yield includes gasoline, diesel fuel, pet coke and other refined products such as natural gas liquids, asphalt and jet fuel among other products.

CVR Partners produces and distributes nitrogen fertilizer products, which are used by farmers to improve the yield and quality of their crops. The principal products are UAN and ammonia. CVR Partners’ Coffeyville, Kansas facility uses pet coke to produce nitrogen fertilizer and is supplied primarily by its adjacent crude oil refinery pursuant to a renewable long-term agreement with CVR Refining. Historically, the Coffeyville nitrogen fertilizer plant has obtained the remainder of its pet coke requirements from third parties such as other Midwestern refineries or pet coke brokers at spot-prices. CVR Partners’ East Dubuque, Illinois facility uses natural gas to produce nitrogen fertilizer. The East Dubuque facility is able to purchase natural gas at competitive prices due to its connection to the Norther Natural Gas interstate pipeline system, which is within one mile of the facility, and the ANR Pipeline Company pipeline.

Environmental Regulations

CVR Energy’s petroleum and nitrogen fertilizer businesses are subject to extensive and frequently changing federal, state and local, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations governing the emission and release of hazardous substances into the environment, the treatment and discharge of waste water, and the storage, handling, use and transportation of petroleum and nitrogen products, and the characteristics and composition of gasoline, diesel fuels, UAN and ammonia. These laws and regulations, their underlying regulatory requirements, and the enforcement thereof, impact the petroleum business and operations and the nitrogen fertilizer business and operations by imposing:

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CVR Energy’s operations require numerous permits, licenses and authorizations. Failure to comply with these permits or environmental laws and regulations could result in fines, penalties or other sanctions or a revocation of CVR Energy’s permits. In addition, the laws and regulations to which CVR Energy is subject to are often evolving and many of them have become more stringent or have become subject to more stringent interpretation or enforcement by federal or state agencies. These laws and regulations could result in increased capital, operating and compliance costs.

CVR Energy’s businesses are also subject to, or impacted by, various other environmental laws and regulations such as the federal Clean Air Act, the federal Clean Water Act, release reporting requirements relating to the release of hazardous substances into the environment, certain fuel regulations, renewable fuel standards, as discussed below, and various other laws and regulations.

Renewable Fuel Standards

CVR Refining is subject to the renewable fuel standards which requires refiners to either blend “renewable fuels” with their transportation fuels or purchase renewable fuel credits, known as renewable identification numbers, in lieu of blending. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and Note 18, “Commitments and Contingencies,” to the consolidated financial statements for further discussion.

Automotive

We conduct our Automotive segment through our wholly owned subsidiary, Icahn Automotive Group LLC (“Icahn Automotive”). Icahn Automotive is headquartered in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Icahn Automotive was formed by us to invest in and operate businesses involved in automotive repair and maintenance services (“automotive services”) as well as the distribution and sale of automotive aftermarket parts and accessories to end-user do-it-yourself customers, wholesale distributors, and professional auto mechanics (“aftermarket parts”). Icahn Automotive’s automotive services and aftermarket parts businesses serve different customer channels and have distinct strategies, opportunities and requirements. As a result, the board of directors of Icahn Automotive has approved the separation of its aftermarket parts and automotive services businesses into two independent operating companies, each with its own Chief Executive Officer and management teams, and both of which are supported by a central shared service group. Our Automotive segment also includes our separate equity method investment in 767 Auto Leasing, LLC (“767 Leasing”), a joint venture created by us to purchase vehicles for lease. Although 767 Leasing is separate from Icahn Automotive, we include it as a component of our Automotive segment due to the nature of the joint venture activities.

Our Automotive segment’s net sales for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 represented approximately 28%, 24% and 22%, respectively, of our consolidated net sales.

Products, Services and Customers

The automotive aftermarket industry is in the mature stage of its life cycle. Over the past decade, consumers have moved away from do-it-yourself (retail) toward do-it-for-me (services) due to increasing vehicle complexity and electronic content, as well as decreasing availability of diagnostic equipment and know-how. Consistent with this long-term trend, Icahn Automotive’s long-term strategy is to grow its commercial parts sales to automotive services businesses as well to grow its own automotive service business, while maintaining its retail parts customer bases by offering the newest and broadest product assortment in the automotive aftermarket. Icahn Automotive provides its customers with access to over two million replacement parts for domestic and imported vehicles through an extensive network of suppliers. Icahn Automotive seeks to provide (i) an extensive selection of product offerings, (ii) competitive pricing, (iii) exceptional in-store service experience and (iv) superior delivery to its customers.

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Suppliers

Icahn Automotive purchases parts from manufacturers and other distributors for sale in the aftermarket. Purchases are made based on current inventory or operational needs and are fulfilled by suppliers within short periods of time. During 2020, Icahn Automotive’s ten largest suppliers accounted for approximately 51% of the merchandise purchased and its two largest suppliers accounted for more than 25% of the merchandise purchased. Icahn Automotive believes that the relationships that it has established with its suppliers are generally positive. In the past, Icahn Automotive has not experienced difficulty in obtaining satisfactory sources of supply and it believes that adequate alternative sources of supply exist, at similar cost, for the types of merchandise sold in its stores.

Other Operating Segments

Food Packaging

We conduct our Food Packaging segment through our majority owned subsidiary, Viskase Companies, Inc. (“Viskase”). Viskase is a producer of cellulosic, fibrous and plastic casings used to prepare and package processed meat products. Approximately 70% of Viskase’s net sales during 2020 were derived from customers outside the United States.

In October 2020, Viskase completed an equity private placement whereby we acquired an additional 50,000,000 shares of Viskase common stock for $100 million. In connection with this transaction, our ownership of Viskase increased from approximately 79% to 89%.

Metals

We conduct our Metals segment through our wholly owned subsidiary, PSC Metals, LLC (“PSC Metals”). PSC Metals is principally engaged in the business of collecting, processing and selling ferrous and non-ferrous metals, as well as the processing and distribution of steel pipe and plate products. PSC Metals collects industrial and obsolete scrap metal, processes it into reusable forms and supplies the recycled metals to its customers. PSC Metals’ operations consist of 31 recycling yards, three secondary plate storage and distribution centers and one secondary pipe storage and distribution center located throughout the Midwestern and Southeastern United States.

Real Estate

Our Real Estate segment consists primarily of investment properties, the development and sale of single-family homes and the management of a country club. Our Real Estate segment also owns a hotel and timeshare resort in Aruba and a property in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Home Fashion

We conduct our Home Fashion segment through our wholly owned subsidiary, WestPoint Home LLC (“WPH”). WPH’s business consists of manufacturing, sourcing, marketing, distributing and selling home fashion consumer products. WPH’s operations include a manufacturing and distribution facility in Chipley, Florida and a manufacturing facility in Bahrain, both of which are owned facilities.

Pharma

We conduct our Pharma segment through our wholly owned subsidiary, Vivus, Inc. (“Vivus”). We acquired all of the outstanding common stock of Vivus in December 2020 upon its emergence from bankruptcy. Prior to Vivus’ emergence from bankruptcy, we held an investment in all of Vivus’ convertible corporate debt securities as well as all of its other outstanding debt. Vivus is a specialty pharmaceutical company with two approved therapies and one product candidate in active clinical development.

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Employees

We have an aggregate of 33 employees at our Holding Company and Investment segment. Our other reporting segments employ an aggregate of approximately 23,800 employees, of which approximately 70% are employed within our Automotive segment, 11% are employed with our Food Packaging segment and less than 10% at each of our other segments. Approximately 17% of our employees are employed internationally, primarily within our Food Packaging and Home Fashion segments.

Available Information

Icahn Enterprises maintains a website at www.ielp.com. We provide access to our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports free of charge through this website as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with the SEC. Paper copies of annual and periodic reports filed with the SEC may be obtained free of charge upon written request by contacting our headquarters at the address located on the front cover of this report or under Investor Relations on our website. In addition, our corporate governance guidelines, including Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and Audit Committee Charter, are available on our website (under Corporate Governance) and are available in print without charge to any stockholder requesting them. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, information statements, and other information regarding issuers like us who file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s website is located at www.sec.gov.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

Investing in our securities involves certain risks. Before investing in any of our securities, you should carefully consider the following risks. If any of these risks actually occurs, it could have a material adverse effect on our business. The risks described below are not the only risks that affect our businesses. Additional risks that are unknown or not presently deemed significant may also have a material adverse effect on our businesses.

Risks Relating to Our Structure

Our general partner, and its control person, has significant influence over us.

Mr. Icahn, through affiliates, owns 100% of Icahn Enterprises GP, the general partner of Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings, and approximately 92% of Icahn Enterprises’ outstanding depositary units as of December 31, 2020, and, as a result, has the ability to influence many aspects of our operations and affairs.

Mr. Icahn’s estate has been designed to assure the stability and continuation of Icahn Enterprises with no need to monetize his interests for estate tax or other purposes. In the event of Mr. Icahn’s death, control of Mr. Icahn’s interests in Icahn Enterprises and its general partner will be placed in charitable and other trusts under the control of senior Icahn Enterprises’ executives and Icahn family members. However, there can be no assurance that such planning will be effective.

We have engaged, and in the future may engage, in transactions with our affiliates.

We have invested and may in the future invest in entities in which Mr. Icahn also invests. We also have purchased and may in the future purchase entities or investments from him or his affiliates. Although Icahn Enterprises GP has never received fees in connection with our investments, our partnership agreement allows for the payment of these fees. Mr. Icahn may pursue other business opportunities in industries in which we compete and there is no requirement that any additional business opportunities be presented to us. We continuously identify, evaluate and engage in discussions concerning potential investments and acquisitions, including potential investments in and acquisitions of affiliates of Mr. Icahn. There cannot be any assurance that any potential transactions that we consider will be completed.

We are subject to the risk of becoming an investment company.

Because we are a holding company and a significant portion of our assets may, from time to time, consist of investments in companies in which we own less than a 50% interest, we run the risk of inadvertently becoming an investment company that is required to register under the Investment Company Act. Events beyond our control, including significant appreciation or depreciation in the market value of certain of our publicly traded holdings or adverse developments with respect to our ownership of certain of our subsidiaries, could result in our inadvertently becoming an investment company that is required to register under the Investment Company Act. Transactions involving the sale of certain assets could result in our being considered an investment company. Following such events or transactions, an exemption under the Investment Company Act would provide us up to one year to take steps to avoid becoming classified as an investment company. We expect to take steps to avoid becoming classified as an investment company, but no assurance can be made that we will successfully be able to take the steps necessary to avoid becoming classified as an investment company.

If we are unsuccessful, then we will be required to register as a registered investment company and will be subject to extensive, restrictive and potentially adverse regulations relating to, among other things, operating methods, management, capital structure, dividends and transactions with affiliates. Registered investment companies are not permitted to operate their business in the manner in which we currently operate our business, nor are registered investment companies permitted to have many of the relationships that we have with our affiliated companies. In addition, if we become required to register under the Investment Company Act, it is likely that we would be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and would be subject to the tax consequences described below under the caption, “We may become taxable as a corporation if we are no longer treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.”

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If it were established that we were an investment company and did not register as an investment company when required to do so, there would be a risk, among other material adverse consequences, that we could become subject to monetary penalties or injunctive relief, or both, in an action brought by the SEC, that we would be unable to enforce contracts with third parties or that third parties could seek to obtain rescission of transactions with us undertaken during the period it was established that we were an unregistered investment company.

We may structure transactions in a less advantageous manner to avoid becoming subject to the Investment Company Act.

In order not to become an investment company required to register under the Investment Company Act, we monitor the value of our investments and structure transactions with an eye toward the Investment Company Act. As a result, we may structure transactions in a less advantageous manner than if we did not have Investment Company Act concerns, or we may avoid otherwise economically desirable transactions due to those concerns.

We may become taxable as a corporation if we are no longer treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

We believe that we have been and are properly treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This allows us to pass through our income and deductions to our partners. However, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) could challenge our partnership status and we could fail to qualify as a partnership for past years as well as future years. Qualification as a partnership involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended. For example, a publicly traded partnership is generally taxable as a corporation unless 90% or more of its gross income is “qualifying” income, which includes interest, dividends, oil and gas revenues, real property rents, gains from the sale or other disposition of real property, gain from the sale or other disposition of capital assets held for the production of interest or dividends, and certain other items. We believe that in all prior years of our existence at least 90% of our gross income was “qualifying” income and we intend to structure our business in a manner such that at least 90% of our gross income will constitute “qualifying” income this year and in the future. However, there can be no assurance that such structuring will be effective in all events to avoid the receipt of more than 10% of non-qualifying income. If less than 90% of our gross income constitutes “qualifying” income, we may be subject to corporate tax on our net income plus possible state taxes. Further, if less than 90% of our gross income constituted “qualifying” income for past years, we may be subject to corporate level tax plus interest and possibly penalties. In addition, if we become required to register under the Investment Company Act, it is likely that we would be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The cost of paying federal and possibly state income tax, either for past years or going forward could be a significant liability and would reduce our funds available to make distributions to holders of units, and to make interest and principal payments on our debt securities. To meet the “qualifying” income test, we may structure transactions in a manner which is less advantageous than if this were not a consideration, or we may avoid otherwise economically desirable transactions.

We may be negatively impacted by the potential for changes in tax laws.

Our investment strategy considers various tax related impacts. Past or future legislative proposals have been or may be introduced that, if enacted, could have a material and adverse effect on us. For example, past proposals have included taxing publicly traded partnerships, such as us, as corporations and introducing substantive changes to the definition of “qualifying” income, which could make it more difficult or impossible to for us to meet the exception that allows publicly traded partnerships generating “qualifying” income to be treated as partnerships (rather than corporations) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We currently cannot predict the outcome of such legislative proposals, including, if enacted, their impact on our operations and financial position.

Holders of depositary units may be required to pay tax on their share of our income even if they did not receive cash distributions from us.

Because we are treated as a partnership for income tax purposes, unitholders generally are required to pay U.S. federal income tax, and, in some cases, state or local income tax, on the portion of our taxable income allocated to them, whether or not such income is distributed. Accordingly, it is possible that holders of depositary units may not receive

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cash distributions from us equal to their share of our taxable income, or even equal to their tax liability on the portion of our income allocated to them.

Tax gain or loss on the disposition of our depositary units could be more or less than expected.

If our unitholders sell their units, they will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and their tax basis in those units. Any distributions to our unitholders that were in excess of the total net taxable income our unitholders were allocated for a unit decreased their tax basis in that unit. As a result of the reduced basis, a unitholder will recognize a greater amount of income if the unit is later sold for an amount greater than such unit’s basis. A portion of the amount realized, whether or not representing gain, may be ordinary income to the selling unitholder due to potential recapture items. In addition, because the amount realized includes a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, a unitholder who sells units may incur a tax liability in excess of the amount of cash received from the sale.

Tax-exempt entities may recognize unrelated business taxable income they receive from holding our units, and may face other unique issues specific to their U.S. federal income tax classification.

Investment in units by tax-exempt entities, such as individual retirement accounts (known as IRAs), pension plans, and non-U.S. persons raises issues unique to them. For example, some portion of our income allocated to organizations exempt from U.S. federal income tax, particularly income arising from our debt-financed transactions, will likely be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to them.

Non-U.S. persons face unique tax issues from owning units that may result in adverse tax consequences to them, including being subject to withholding regimes and U.S. federal income tax on certain income they may earn from holding our units.

Distributions to non-U.S. persons will be reduced by withholding taxes at the highest applicable effective tax rate, and non-U.S. persons will be required to file U.S. federal income tax returns and pay tax on their share of our taxable income.

In addition, under proposed Treasury regulations that are not currently applicable to us, the transferee of depositary units may be required to deduct and withhold a tax equal to 10% of the amount realized (or deemed realized) on the sale or exchange of such depositary units. The requirement to withhold on amounts realized (or deemed realized) in connection with the sale or exchange of certain interests in a publicly traded partnership (including by brokers) is suspended under Notice 2018-08 for transfers that occur before January 1, 2022, and therefore, no withholding will apply. On November 30, 2020, however, the IRS published final regulations (the “1446 Final Regulations”) that address withholding tax and information reporting with respect to interests in publicly traded partnerships engaged in a U.S. trade or business. The 1446 Final Regulations end the suspension of withholding on the sale or exchange of certain interests in a publicly traded partnership, effective on January 1, 2022, but place the primary responsibility for such withholding obligations for transfers effected through brokers on the broker, and not the publicly traded partnership. However, a publicly traded partnership may be liable for any underwithholding by a broker that relies on a qualified notice for which the publicly traded partnership failed to make a reasonable estimate of the amounts required for determining the applicability of the “10 percent exception.” The “10 percent exception” applies if, either (1) the publicly traded partnership was not engaged in a U.S. trade or business during a specified time period, or (2) upon a hypothetical sale of the publicly traded partnership’s assets at fair market value, (i) the amount of net gain that would have been effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business would be less than 10% of the total net gain, or (ii) no gain would have been effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business.

We may be liable for any underwithholding by nominees on our distributions made after January 1, 2022.

Under the 1446 Final Regulations, for distributions made after January 1, 2022, a publicly traded partnership must post on its primary public website (and keep accessible for ten years), and deliver to any registered holder that is a nominee, a qualified notice that states the amount of a distribution that is attributable to each type of income group specified in the 1446 Final Regulations. If the qualified notice is incorrect such that it causes a broker to underwithhold

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with respect to an amount in excess of cumulative net income, the publicly traded partnership is liable for any underwithholding on such amount.

Our unitholders likely will be subject to state and local taxes and return filing or withholding requirements in states in which they do not live as a result of investing in our units.

In addition to U.S. federal income taxes, our unitholders will likely be subject to other taxes, such as state and local income taxes, unincorporated business taxes and estate, inheritance, or intangible taxes that are imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we do business or own property. Our unitholders may be required to file state and local income tax returns and pay state and local income taxes in certain of these various jurisdictions. Further, our unitholders may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. We own property and conduct business in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas. It is each unitholder’s responsibility to file all federal, state and local tax returns. Our counsel has not rendered an opinion on the state and local tax consequences of an investment in our units.

We prorate our items of income, gain, loss and deduction between transferors and transferees of our units based upon the ownership of our units at the close of business on the last day of each month, instead of on the basis of the date a particular unit is transferred. The IRS may challenge this treatment, which could change the allocation of items of income, gain, loss and deduction among our unitholders.

We prorate our items of income, gain, loss and deduction between transferors and transferees of our units based upon the ownership of our units on the first business day of each month, instead of on the basis of the date a particular unit is transferred. The U.S. Treasury Department adopted final Treasury regulations that provide that publicly traded partnerships may use a similar monthly simplifying convention to allocate tax items among transferor and transferee unitholders. Nonetheless, the final regulations do not specifically authorize the use of the proration method we have adopted. If the IRS were to challenge this method, we may be required to change the allocation of items of income, gain, loss and deduction among our unitholders.

A unitholder whose units are loaned to a “short seller” to cover a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of those units. If so, such unitholder would no longer be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a partner with respect to those units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss from the disposition.

Because a unitholder whose units are loaned to a “short seller” to cover a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of the loaned units, he or she may no longer be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a partner with respect to those units during the period of the loan to the short seller and the unitholder may recognize gain or loss from such disposition. Moreover, during the period of the loan to the short seller, any of our income, gain, loss or deduction with respect to those units may not be reportable by the unitholder and any cash distributions received by the unitholder as to those units could be fully taxable as ordinary income. Our counsel has not rendered an opinion regarding the treatment of a unitholder where units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of units; therefore, unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their brokers from borrowing their units.

If the IRS makes audit adjustments to our income tax returns for tax years beginning after 2017, it (and some states) may collect any resulting taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) directly from us, in which case our cash available to service debt or pay distributions to our unitholders, if and when resumed, could be substantially reduced.

With respect to tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to our income tax returns, it (and some states) may assess and collect any resulting taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from us. Generally, we will have the option to seek to collect tax liability from our unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests during the year under audit, but there can be no assurance that we will elect to do so or be able to do so under all circumstances. If we do not collect such tax liability from our unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in the tax year under audit, our net income and the available cash for quarterly distributions to current unitholders may be substantially reduced. Accordingly, our current

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unitholders may bear some or all of the tax liability resulting from such audit adjustment, even if such unitholders did not own units during the tax year under audit. In particular, as a publicly traded partnership, our Partnership Representative (as defined below) may, in certain instances, request that any “imputed underpayment” resulting from an audit be adjusted by amounts of certain of our passive losses. If we successfully make such a request, we would have to reduce suspended passive loss carryovers in a manner which is binding on the partners.

We are required to and have designated a partner, or other person, with a substantial presence in the United States as the partnership representative (“Partnership Representative”). The Partnership Representative will have the sole authority to act on our behalf for purposes of, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS. Any actions taken by us or by the Partnership Representative on our behalf with respect to, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS, will be binding on us and our unitholders.

We may be subject to the pension liabilities of our affiliates.

Mr. Icahn, through certain affiliates, owns 100% of Icahn Enterprises GP and approximately 92% of Icahn Enterprises’ outstanding depositary units as of December 31, 2020. Applicable pension and tax laws make each member of a “controlled group” of entities, generally defined as entities in which there is at least an 80% common ownership interest, jointly and severally liable for certain pension plan obligations of any member of the controlled group. These pension obligations include ongoing contributions to fund the plan, as well as liability for any unfunded liabilities that may exist at the time the plan is terminated. In addition, the failure to pay these pension obligations when due may result in the creation of liens in favor of the pension plan or the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) against the assets of each member of the controlled group.

As a result of the more than 80% ownership interest in us by Mr. Icahn’s affiliates, we and our subsidiaries are subject to the pension liabilities of entities in which Mr. Icahn has a direct or indirect ownership interest of at least 80%, which includes the liabilities of pension plans sponsored by Viskase and ACF Industries LLC (“ACF”). All the minimum funding requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, for the Viskase and ACF plans have been met as of December 31, 2020. If the plans were voluntarily terminated, they would be underfunded by an aggregate of approximately $122 million as of December 31, 2020. These results are based on the most recent information provided by the plans’ actuaries. These liabilities could increase or decrease, depending on a number of factors, including future changes in benefits, investment returns, and the assumptions used to calculate the liability. As members of the controlled group, we would be liable for any failure of Viskase or ACF to make ongoing pension contributions or to pay the unfunded liabilities upon a termination of the Viskase or ACF pension plans. In addition, other entities now or in the future within the controlled group in which we are included may have pension plan obligations that are, or may become, underfunded and we would be liable for any failure of such entities to make ongoing pension contributions or to pay the unfunded liabilities upon termination of such plans.

The current underfunded status of the pension plans of Viskase and ACF requires them to notify the PBGC of certain “reportable events,” such as if we cease to be a member of the Viskase or ACF controlled group, or if we make certain extraordinary dividends or stock redemptions. The obligation to report could cause us to seek to delay or reconsider the occurrence of such reportable events.

Starfire Holding Corporation (“Starfire”), which is 99.6% owned by Mr. Icahn, has undertaken to indemnify us and our subsidiaries from losses resulting from any imposition of certain pension funding or termination liabilities that may be imposed on us and our subsidiaries or our assets as a result of being a member of the Icahn controlled group. The Starfire indemnity provides, among other things, that so long as such contingent liabilities exist and could be imposed on us, Starfire will not make any distributions to its stockholders that would reduce its net worth to below $250 million. Nonetheless, Starfire may not be able to fund its indemnification obligations to us.

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We are a limited partnership and a ‘‘controlled company’’ within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and as such are exempt from certain corporate governance requirements.

We are a limited partnership and ‘‘controlled company’’ pursuant to Rule 5615(c) of the Nasdaq listing rules. As such we have elected, and intend to continue to elect, not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq listing rules, including the requirements that a majority of the board of directors consist of independent directors and that independent directors determine the compensation of executive officers and the selection of nominees to the board of directors. We do not maintain a compensation or nominating committee and do not have a majority of independent directors. Accordingly, while we remain a controlled company and during any transition period following a time when we are no longer a controlled company, the Nasdaq listing rules do not provide the same corporate governance protections applicable to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq listing requirements.

Certain members of our management team may be involved in other business activities that may involve conflicts of interest.

Certain individual members of our management team may, from time to time, be involved in the management of other businesses, including those owned or controlled by Mr. Icahn and his affiliates. Accordingly, these individuals may focus a portion of their time and attention on managing these other businesses. Conflicts may arise in the future between our interests and the interests of the other entities and business activities in which such individuals are involved.

Holders of Icahn Enterprises’ depositary units have limited voting rights, including rights to participate in our management.

Our general partner manages and operates Icahn Enterprises. Unlike the holders of common stock in a corporation, holders of Icahn Enterprises’ outstanding depositary units have only limited voting rights on matters affecting our business. Holders of depositary units have no right to elect the general partner on an annual or other continuing basis, and our general partner generally may not be removed except pursuant to the vote of the holders of not less than 75% of the outstanding depositary units. In addition, removal of the general partner may result in a default under the indentures governing our senior notes. As a result, holders of our depositary units have limited say in matters affecting our operations and others may find it difficult to attempt to gain control or influence our activities.

Holders of Icahn Enterprises’ depositary units may not have limited liability in certain circumstances and may be personally liable for the return of distributions that cause our liabilities to exceed our assets.

We conduct our businesses through Icahn Enterprises Holdings in several states. Maintenance of limited liability will require compliance with legal requirements of those states. We are the sole limited partner of Icahn Enterprises Holdings. Limitations on the liability of a limited partner for the obligations of a limited partnership have not clearly been established in several states. If it were determined that Icahn Enterprises Holdings has been conducting business in any state without compliance with the applicable limited partnership statute or the possession or exercise of the right by the partnership, as limited partner of Icahn Enterprises Holdings, to remove its general partner, to approve certain amendments to the Icahn Enterprises Holdings partnership agreement or to take other action pursuant to the Icahn Enterprises Holdings partnership agreement, constituted “control” of Icahn Enterprises Holdings’ business for the purposes of the statutes of any relevant state, Icahn Enterprises and/or its unitholders, under certain circumstances, might be held personally liable for Icahn Enterprises Holdings’ obligations to the same extent as our general partner. Further, under the laws of certain states, Icahn Enterprises might be liable for the amount of distributions made to Icahn Enterprises by Icahn Enterprises Holdings.

Holders of Icahn Enterprises’ depositary units may also be required to repay Icahn Enterprises amounts wrongfully distributed to them. Under Delaware law, we may not make a distribution to holders of our depositary units if the distribution causes our liabilities to exceed the fair value of our assets. Liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests and nonrecourse liabilities are not counted for purposes of determining whether a distribution is permitted. Delaware law provides that a limited partner who receives such a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution violated Delaware law will be liable to the limited partnership for the distribution amount for three years from the distribution date.

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Additionally, under Delaware law an assignee who becomes a substituted limited partner of a limited partnership is liable for the obligations, if any, of the assignor to make contributions to the partnership. However, such an assignee is not obligated for liabilities unknown to him or her at the time he or she became a limited partner if the liabilities could not be determined from the partnership agreement.

Since we are a limited partnership, you may not be able to pursue legal claims against us in U.S. federal courts.

We are a limited partnership organized under the laws of the state of Delaware. Under the federal rules of civil procedure, you may not be able to sue us in federal court on claims other than those based solely on federal law, because of lack of complete diversity. Case law applying diversity jurisdiction deems us to have the citizenship of each of our limited partners. Because we are a publicly traded limited partnership, it may not be possible for you to sue us in a federal court because we have citizenship in all 50 U.S. states and operations in many states. Accordingly, you will be limited to bringing any claims in state court.

Risks Relating to Liquidity and Capital Requirements

We are a holding company and depend on the businesses of our subsidiaries to satisfy our obligations.

We are a holding company. In addition to cash and cash equivalents, U.S. government and agency obligations, marketable equity and debt securities and other short-term investments, our assets consist primarily of investments in our subsidiaries. Moreover, if we make significant investments in new operating businesses, it is likely that we will reduce our liquid assets and those of Icahn Enterprises Holdings in order to fund those investments and the ongoing operations of our subsidiaries. Consequently, our cash flow and our ability to meet our debt service obligations and make distributions with respect to depositary units likely will depend on the cash flow of our subsidiaries and the payment of funds to us by our subsidiaries in the form of dividends, distributions, loans or otherwise.

The operating results of our subsidiaries may not be sufficient to make distributions to us. In addition, our subsidiaries are not obligated to make funds available to us and distributions and intercompany transfers from our subsidiaries to us may be restricted by applicable law or covenants contained in debt agreements and other agreements to which these subsidiaries may be subject or enter into in the future.

The terms of certain borrowing agreements of our subsidiaries, or other entities in which we own equity, may restrict dividends, distributions or loans to us. To the degree any distributions and transfers are impaired or prohibited, our ability to make payments on our debt and to make distributions on our depositary units will be limited.

To service our indebtedness, we will require a significant amount of cash. Our ability to maintain our current cash position or generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control.

Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our indebtedness, and to fund operations will depend on existing cash balances and our ability to generate cash in the future. This, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. Our current businesses and businesses that we acquire may not generate sufficient cash to service our outstanding indebtedness. In addition, we may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations or investments and future borrowings may not be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to service our outstanding indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs. We may need to refinance all or a portion of our outstanding indebtedness on or before maturity. We cannot assure you that we will be able to refinance any of our outstanding indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

Our failure to comply with the covenants contained under any of our debt instruments, including the indentures governing our senior unsecured notes (including our failure to comply as a result of events beyond our control), could result in an event of default that would materially and adversely affect our financial condition.

Our failure to comply with the covenants under any of our debt instruments, including our indentures governing our senior unsecured notes, (including our failure to comply as a result of events beyond our control) may trigger a default or event of default under such instruments. If there were an event of default under one of our debt instruments, the

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holders of the defaulted debt could cause all amounts outstanding with respect to that debt to be due and payable immediately. In addition, any event of default or declaration of acceleration under one debt instrument could result in an event of default and declaration of acceleration under one or more of our other debt instruments, including the exchange notes. It is possible that, if the defaulted debt is accelerated, our assets and cash flow may not be sufficient to fully repay borrowings under our outstanding debt instruments and we cannot assure you that we would be able to refinance or restructure the payments on those debt securities.

We may not have sufficient funds necessary to finance a change of control offer that may be required by the indentures governing our senior notes.

If Mr. Icahn were to sell, or otherwise transfer, some or all of his interests in us to an unrelated party or group, a change of control could be deemed to have occurred under the terms of the indentures governing our senior notes, which would require us to offer to repurchase all outstanding senior notes at 101% of their principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest and liquidated damages, if any, to the date of repurchase. However, it is possible that we will not have sufficient funds at the time of the change of control to make the required repurchase of notes.

We have made significant investments in the Investment Funds and negative performance of the Investment Funds may result in a significant decline in the value of our investments.

As of December 31, 2020, we had investments in the Investment Funds with a fair market value of approximately $4.3 billion, which may be accessed on short notice to satisfy our liquidity needs. However, if the Investment Funds experience negative performance, the value of these investments will be negatively impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, cash flows and financial position.

Future cash distributions to Icahn Enterprises’ unitholders, if any, can be affected by numerous factors.

While we made cash distributions to Icahn Enterprises’ unitholders in each of the four quarters of 2020, the payment of future distributions will be determined by the board of directors of Icahn Enterprises GP, our general partner, quarterly, based on a review of a number of factors, including those described below and other factors that it deems relevant at the time that declaration of a distribution is considered.

Our ability to pay distributions will depend on numerous factors, including the availability of adequate cash flow from operations; the proceeds, if any, from divestitures; our capital requirements and other obligations; restrictions contained in our financing arrangements, including the indentures governing our senior notes; and our issuances of additional equity and debt securities. The availability of cash flow in the future depends as well upon events and circumstances outside our control, including prevailing economic and industry conditions and financial, business and similar factors. No assurance can be given that we will be able to make distributions or as to the timing of any distribution. Even if distributions are made, there can be no assurance that holders of depositary units will not be required to recognize taxable income in excess of cash distributions made in respect of the period in which a distribution is made.

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Risks Relating to Our Investment Segment

Our investments may be subject to significant uncertainties.

Our investments may not be successful for many reasons, including, but not limited to:

The historical financial information for the Investment Funds is not necessarily indicative of its future performance.

Our Investment segment’s financial information is driven by the amount of funds allocated to the Investment Funds and the performance of the underlying investments in the Investment Funds. Future funds allocated to the Investment Funds may increase or decrease based on the contributions and redemptions by our Holding Company, Mr. Icahn and his affiliates and by Brett Icahn, son of Mr. Icahn. Additionally, historical performance results of the Investment Funds are not indicative of future results as past market conditions, investment opportunities and investment decisions may not occur in the future. Changes in general market conditions coupled with changes in exposure to short and long positions have significant impact on our Investment segment’s results of operations and the comparability of results of operations year over year and as such, future results of operations will be impacted by our future exposures and future market conditions, which may not be consistent with prior trends. Additionally, future returns may be affected by additional risks, including risks of the industries and businesses in which a particular fund invests.

The Investment Funds’ investment strategy involves numerous and significant risks, including the risk that we may lose some or all of our investments in the Investment Funds. This risk may be magnified due to concentration of investments and investments in undervalued securities.

Our Investment segment’s revenue depends on the investments made by the Investment Funds. There are numerous and significant risks associated with these investments, certain of which are described in this risk factor and in other risk factors set forth herein.

Certain investment positions held by the Investment Funds may be illiquid. The Investment Funds may own restricted or non-publicly traded securities and securities traded on foreign exchanges. We may also have significant influence with respect to certain companies owned by the Investment Funds, including representation on the board of directors of certain companies, and may be subject to trading restrictions with respect to specific positions in the Investment Funds at any particular time. These investments and trading restrictions could prevent the Investment Funds from liquidating unfavorable positions promptly and subject the Investment Funds to substantial losses.

At any given time, the Investment Funds’ assets may become highly concentrated within a particular company, industry, asset category, trading style or financial or economic market. In that event, the Investment Funds’ investment portfolio will be more susceptible to fluctuations in value resulting from adverse events, developments or economic conditions affecting the performance of that particular company, industry, asset category, trading style or economic market than a less concentrated portfolio would be. As a result, the Investment Funds’ investment portfolio’s aggregate returns may be volatile and may be affected substantially by the performance of only one or a few holdings.

As of December 31, 2020, our top five holdings in the Investment Funds had a market value of approximately $5.2 billion, which represented approximately 55% of our assets under management for the Investment Segment. Therefore, a significant decline in the fair market values of our larger positions may have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows and the trading price of our depositary units. Certain

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of the companies in our Investment Funds file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC, which are publicly available, and contain additional risk factors with respect to such companies.

The Investment Funds seek to invest in securities that are undervalued. The identification of investment opportunities in undervalued securities is challenging, and there are no assurances that such opportunities will be successfully recognized or acquired. While investments in undervalued securities offer the opportunity for above-average capital appreciation, these investments involve a high degree of financial risk and can result in substantial losses. Returns generated from the Investment Funds’ investments may not adequately compensate for the business and financial risks assumed.

From time to time, the Investment Funds may invest in bonds or other fixed income securities, such as commercial paper and higher yielding (and, therefore, higher risk) debt securities. It is likely that a major economic recession could severely disrupt the market for such securities and may have a material adverse impact on the value of such securities. In addition, it is likely that any such economic downturn could adversely affect the ability of the issuers of such securities to repay principal and pay interest thereon and increase the incidence of default for such securities.

For reasons not necessarily attributable to any of the risks set forth in this Report (e.g., supply/demand imbalances or other market forces), the prices of the securities in which the Investment Funds invest may decline substantially. In particular, purchasing assets at what may appear to be undervalued levels is no guarantee that these assets will not be trading at even more undervalued levels at a future time of valuation or at the time of sale.

The prices of financial instruments in which the Investment Funds may invest can be highly volatile. Price movements of forward and other derivative contracts in which the Investment Funds’ assets may be invested are influenced by, among other things, interest rates, changing supply and demand relationships, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies of governments, and national and international political and economic events and policies. The Investment Funds are subject to the risk of failure of any of the exchanges on which their positions trade or of their clearinghouses.

We may not be able to identify suitable investments, and our investments may not result in favorable returns or may result in losses.

Our partnership agreement allows us to take advantage of investment opportunities we believe exist outside of our operating businesses. The equity securities in which we may invest may include common stock, preferred stock and securities convertible into common stock, as well as warrants to purchase these securities. The debt securities in which we may invest may include bonds, debentures, notes or non-rated mortgage-related securities, municipal obligations, bank debt and mezzanine loans. Certain of these securities may include lower rated or non-rated securities, which may provide the potential for higher yields and therefore may entail higher risk and may include the securities of bankrupt or distressed companies. In addition, we may engage in various investment techniques, including derivatives, options and futures transactions, foreign currency transactions, “short” sales and leveraging for either hedging or other purposes. We may concentrate our activities by owning significant or controlling interests in certain investments. We may not be successful in finding suitable opportunities to invest our cash and our strategy of investing in undervalued assets may expose us to numerous risks.

Successful execution of our activist investment activities involves many risks, certain of which are outside of our control.

The success of our investment strategy may require, among other things: (i) that we properly identify companies whose securities prices can be improved through corporate and/or strategic action or successful restructuring of their operations; (ii) that we acquire sufficient securities of such companies at a sufficiently attractive price; (iii) that we avoid triggering anti-takeover and regulatory obstacles while aggregating our positions; (iv) that management of portfolio companies and other security holders respond positively to our proposals; and (v) that the market price of portfolio companies’ securities increases in response to any actions taken by the portfolio companies. We cannot assure you that any of the foregoing will succeed.

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The success of the Investment Funds depends upon the ability of our Investment segment to successfully develop and implement investment strategies that achieve the Investment Funds’ objectives. Subjective decisions made by employees of our Investment segment may cause the Investment Funds to incur losses or to miss profit opportunities on which the Investment Funds would otherwise have capitalized. In addition, in the event that Mr. Icahn ceases to participate in the management of the Investment Funds, the consequences to the Investment Funds and our interest in them could be material and adverse and could lead to the premature termination of the Investment Funds.

The Investment Funds make investments in companies we do not control.

Investments by the Investment Funds include investments in debt or equity securities of publicly traded companies that we do not control. Such investments may be acquired by the Investment Funds through open market trading activities or through purchases of securities from the issuer. These investments will be subject to the risk that the company in which the investment is made may make business, financial or management decisions with which our Investment segment disagree or that the majority of stakeholders or the management of the company may take risks or otherwise act in a manner that does not serve the best interests of the Investment Funds. In addition, the Investment Funds may make investments in which it shares control over the investment with co-investors, which may make it more difficult for it to implement its investment approach or exit the investment when it otherwise would. If any of the foregoing were to occur, the values of the investments by the Investment Funds could decrease and our Investment segment revenues could suffer as a result.

The use of leverage in investments by the Investment Funds may pose a significant degree of risk and may enhance the possibility of significant loss in the value of the investments in the Investment Funds.

The Investment Funds may leverage their capital if their general partners believe that the use of leverage may enable the Investment Funds to achieve a higher rate of return. Accordingly, the Investment Funds may pledge their securities in order to borrow additional funds for investment purposes. The Investment Funds may also leverage their investment return with options, short sales, swaps, forwards and other derivative instruments. The amount of borrowings that the Investment Funds may have outstanding at any time may be substantial in relation to their capital. While leverage may present opportunities for increasing the Investment Funds’ total return, leverage may increase losses as well. Accordingly, any event that adversely affects the value of an investment by the Investment Funds would be magnified to the extent such fund is leveraged. The cumulative effect of the use of leverage by the Investment Funds in a market that moves adversely to the Investment Funds’ investments could result in a substantial loss to the Investment Funds that would be greater than if the Investment Funds were not leveraged. There is no assurance that leverage will be available on acceptable terms, if at all.

In general, the use of short-term margin borrowings results in certain additional risks to the Investment Funds. For example, should the securities pledged to brokers to secure any Investment Fund’s margin accounts decline in value, the Investment Funds could be subject to a “margin call,” pursuant to which it must either deposit additional funds or securities with the broker, or suffer mandatory liquidation of the pledged securities to compensate for the decline in value. In the event of a sudden drop in the value of any of the Investment Funds’ assets, the Investment Funds might not be able to liquidate assets quickly enough to satisfy its margin requirements.

The Investment Funds may enter into repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements. When the Investment Funds enters into a repurchase agreement, it “sells” securities issued by the U.S. or a non-U.S. government, or agencies thereof, to a broker-dealer or financial institution, and agrees to repurchase such securities for the price paid by the broker-dealer or financial institution, plus interest at a negotiated rate. In a reverse repurchase transaction, the Investment Fund “buys” securities issued by the U.S. or a non-U.S. government, or agencies thereof, from a broker-dealer or financial institution, subject to the obligation of the broker-dealer or financial institution to repurchase such securities at the price paid by the Investment Funds, plus interest at a negotiated rate. The use of repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements by any of the Investment Funds involves certain risks. For example, if the seller of securities to the Investment Funds under a reverse repurchase agreement defaults on its obligation to repurchase the underlying securities, as a result of its bankruptcy or otherwise, the Investment Funds will seek to dispose of such securities, which action could involve costs or delays. If the seller becomes insolvent and subject to liquidation or reorganization under applicable bankruptcy or other laws, the Investment Funds’ ability to dispose of the underlying securities may be restricted. Finally, if a seller

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defaults on its obligation to repurchase securities under a reverse repurchase agreement, the Investment Funds may suffer a loss to the extent it is forced to liquidate its position in the market, and proceeds from the sale of the underlying securities are less than the repurchase price agreed to by the defaulting seller.

The financing used by the Investment Funds to leverage its portfolio will be extended by securities brokers and dealers in the marketplace in which the Investment Funds invest. While the Investment Funds will attempt to negotiate the terms of these financing arrangements with such brokers and dealers, its ability to do so will be limited. The Investment Funds are therefore subject to changes in the value that the broker-dealer ascribes to a given security or position, the amount of margin required to support such security or position, the borrowing rate to finance such security or position and/or such broker-dealer’s willingness to continue to provide any such credit to the Investment Funds. Because the Investment Funds currently have no alternative credit facility which could be used to finance its portfolio in the absence of financing from broker-dealers, it could be forced to liquidate its portfolio on short notice to meet its financing obligations. The forced liquidation of all or a portion of the Investment Funds’ portfolios at distressed prices could result in significant losses to the Investment Funds.

The possibility of increased regulation could result in additional burdens on our Investment segment.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Reform Act”), enacted into law in July 2010, resulted in regulations affecting almost every part of the financial services industry.

The regulatory environment in which our Investment segment operates is subject to further regulation in addition to the rules already promulgated, including the Reform Act. Our Investment segment may be adversely affected by the enactment of new or revised regulations, or changes in the interpretation or enforcement of rules and regulations imposed by the SEC, other U.S. or foreign governmental regulatory authorities or self-regulatory organizations that supervise the financial markets. Such changes may limit the scope of investment activities that may be undertaken by the Investment Funds’ managers. Any such changes could increase the cost of our Investment segment doing business and/or materially adversely impact its profitability. Additionally, the securities and futures markets are subject to comprehensive statutes, regulations and margin requirements. The SEC, other regulators and self-regulatory organizations and exchanges have taken and are authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of market emergencies. The regulation of derivatives transactions and funds that engage in such transactions is an evolving area of law and is subject to modification by government and judicial action. The effect of any future regulatory change on the Investment Funds and the Investment segment could be substantial and adverse.

The ability to hedge investments successfully is subject to numerous risks.

The Investment Funds may utilize financial instruments, both for investment purposes and for risk management purposes in order to (i) protect against possible changes in the market value of the Investment Funds’ investment portfolios resulting from fluctuations in the securities markets and changes in interest rates; (ii) protect the Investment Funds’ unrealized gains in the value of its investment portfolios; (iii) facilitate the sale of any such investments; (iv) enhance or preserve returns, spreads or gains on any investment in the Investment Funds’ portfolio; (v) hedge the interest rate or currency exchange rate on any of the Investment Funds’ liabilities or assets; (vi) protect against any increase in the price of any securities our Investment segment anticipate purchasing at a later date; or (vii) for any other reason that our Investment segment deems appropriate.

The success of any hedging activities will depend, in part, upon the degree of correlation between the performance of the instruments used in the hedging strategy and the performance of the portfolio investments being hedged. However, hedging techniques may not always be possible or effective in limiting potential risks of loss. Since the characteristics of many securities change as markets change or time passes, the success of our Investment segment’s hedging strategy will also be subject to the ability of our Investment segment to continually recalculate, readjust and execute hedges in an efficient and timely manner. While the Investment Funds may enter into hedging transactions to seek to reduce risk, such transactions may result in a poorer overall performance for the Investment Funds than if it had not engaged in such hedging transactions. For a variety of reasons, the Investment Funds may not seek to establish a perfect correlation between the hedging instruments utilized and the portfolio holdings being hedged. Such an imperfect correlation may prevent the Investment Funds from achieving the intended hedge or expose the Investment Funds to risk of loss. The

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Investment Funds do not intend to seek to hedge every position and may determine not to hedge against a particular risk for various reasons, including, but not limited to, because they do not regard the probability of the risk occurring to be sufficiently high as to justify the cost of the hedge. Our Investment segment may not foresee the occurrence of the risk and therefore may not hedge against all risks.

The Investment Funds invest in distressed securities, as well as bank loans, asset backed securities and mortgage backed securities.

The Investment Funds may invest in securities of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers in weak financial condition, experiencing poor operating results, having substantial capital needs or negative net worth, facing special competitive or product obsolescence problems, or that are involved in bankruptcy or reorganization proceedings. Investments of this type may involve substantial financial, legal and business risks that can result in substantial, or at times even total, losses. The market prices of such securities are subject to abrupt and erratic market movements and above-average price volatility. It may take a number of years for the market price of such securities to reflect their intrinsic value. In liquidation (both in and out of bankruptcy) and other forms of corporate insolvency and reorganization, there exists the risk that the reorganization either will be unsuccessful (due to, for example, failure to obtain requisite approvals), will be delayed (for example, until various liabilities, actual or contingent, have been satisfied) or will result in a distribution of cash, assets or a new security the value of which will be less than the purchase price to the Investment Funds of the security in respect to which such distribution was made and the terms of which may render such security illiquid.

The Investment Funds may invest in companies that are based outside of the United States, which may expose the Investment Funds to additional risks not typically associated with investing in companies that are based in the United States.

Investments in securities of non-U.S. issuers (including non-U.S. governments) and securities denominated or whose prices are quoted in non-U.S. currencies pose, to the extent not successfully hedged, currency exchange risks (including blockage, devaluation and non-exchangeability), as well as a range of other potential risks, which could include expropriation, confiscatory taxation, imposition of withholding or other taxes on dividends, interest, capital gains or other income, political or social instability, illiquidity, price volatility and market manipulation. In addition, less information may be available regarding securities of non-U.S. issuers, and non-U.S. issuers may not be subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and requirements comparable to, or as uniform as, those of U.S. issuers. Transaction costs of investing in non-U.S. securities markets are generally higher than in the United States. There is generally less government supervision and regulation of exchanges, brokers and issuers than there is in the United States. The Investment Funds may have greater difficulty taking appropriate legal action in non-U.S. courts. Non-U.S. markets also have different clearance and settlement procedures which in some markets have at times failed to keep pace with the volume of transactions, thereby creating substantial delays and settlement failures that could adversely affect the Investment Funds’ performance. Investments in non-U.S. markets may result in imposition of non-U.S. taxes or withholding on income and gains recognized with respect to such securities. There can be no assurance that adverse developments with respect to such risks will not materially adversely affect the Investment Funds’ investments that are held in certain countries or the returns from these investments.

The Investment Funds’ investments are subject to numerous additional risks including those described below.

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Risks Relating to our Consolidated Operating Subsidiaries

Changes in regulations and regulatory actions can adversely affect our operating results and our ability to allocate capital.

In recent years, regulatory authorities have increased their regulation and scrutiny of businesses partially in response to financial markets crises, global economic recessions, and social and environmental issues. These initiatives may impact our operating subsidiaries, particularly those within our Energy segment. Changes in regulation and regulatory actions may increase our compliance costs and may require changes to how our operating subsidiaries conduct their businesses. Any regulatory changes could have a significant negative impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Our operating subsidiaries operate businesses which are subject to the risk of operational disruptions, damage to property, injury to persons or environmental and legal liability. Our operating subsidiaries could incur potentially significant costs to the extent there are unforeseen events which are not fully insured.

Our operating subsidiaries, particularly within our Energy segment, may become subject to catastrophic loss, which may cause operations to shut down or become significantly impaired. Our operating subsidiaries may also be subject to liability for hazards for which they cannot be insured, which could exceed policy limits or against which they may elect not to be insured due to high premium costs. Examples of such risks include but are not limited to industrial accidents, environmental hazards, power outages, equipment failures, structural failures, flooding, unusual or unexpected geological conditions and severe weather conditions, among others. These events may damage or destroy properties, production facilities, transport facilities and equipment, as well as lead to personal injury or death, environmental damage, waste from intermediary products or resources, production or transportation delays and monetary losses or legal liability. Such damages are not limited to our operations or our employees and could significantly impact the surrounding areas. Operations at our subsidiaries could be curtailed, limited or completely shut down for an extended period of time, or indefinitely, as a result of one or more unforeseen events and circumstances, which may or may not be within our control, and which may not be adequately insured. Any one of these events and circumstances could have a material adverse impact on our operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Environmental laws and regulations could require our operating subsidiaries to make substantial capital expenditures to remain in compliance or to remediate current or future contamination that could give rise to material liabilities.

Several of our subsidiaries are subject to a variety of federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, including those governing the emission or discharge of pollutants into the environment, product specifications and the generation, treatment, storage, transportation, disposal and remediation of solid and hazardous wastes. Violations of these laws and regulations or permit conditions can result in substantial penalties, injunctive orders compelling installation of additional controls, civil and criminal sanctions, permit revocations and/or facility shutdowns.

In addition, new environmental laws and regulations, new interpretations of existing laws and regulations, increased governmental enforcement of laws and regulations or other developments could require our businesses to make additional unforeseen expenditures. Many of these laws and regulations are becoming increasingly stringent, and the cost of compliance with these requirements can be expected to increase over time. The requirements to be met, as well as the technology and length of time available to meet those requirements, continue to develop and change. These expenditures or costs for environmental compliance could have a material adverse effect on our operating subsidiaries’ results of operations, financial condition and profitability. Certain of our subsidiaries’ facilities operate under a number of federal and state permits, licenses and approvals with terms and conditions containing a significant number of prescriptive limits and performance standards in order to operate. These permits, licenses, approvals, limits and standards require a significant amount of monitoring, record keeping and reporting in order to demonstrate compliance with the underlying permit, license, approval, limit or standard. Non-compliance or incomplete documentation of our subsidiaries’ compliance status may result in the imposition of fines, penalties and injunctive relief. Additionally, there may be times when certain of our subsidiaries are unable to meet the standards and terms and conditions of our permits, licenses and

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approvals due to operational upsets or malfunctions, which may lead to the imposition of fines and penalties or operating restrictions that may have a material adverse effect on their ability to operate their facilities and accordingly on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Refer to Note 18, “Commitments and Contingencies,” to the consolidated financial statements for additional discussion of environmental matters affecting our businesses.

Our Energy segment’s businesses are, and commodity prices are, cyclical and highly volatile, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our Energy segment’s petroleum business’ financial results are primarily affected by the margin between refined product prices and the prices for crude oil and other feedstocks. Historically, refining margins have been volatile, and are expected to continue to be volatile in the future. The petroleum business’ cost to acquire feedstocks and the price at which it can ultimately sell refined products depend upon several factors beyond its control, including regional and global supply of and demand for crude oil, gasoline, diesel and other feedstocks and refined products. These in turn depend on, among other things, the availability and quantity of imports, the production levels of U.S. and international suppliers, levels of refined petroleum product inventories, productivity and growth (or the lack thereof) of U.S. and global economies, U.S. relationships with foreign governments, political affairs and the extent of governmental regulation.

Some of these factors can vary by region and may change quickly, adding to market volatility, while others may have longer-term effects on refining and marketing margins, which are uncertain. CVR Refining does not produce crude oil and must purchase all of the crude oil it refines long before it refines them and sell the refined products. Price level changes during the period between purchasing feedstocks and selling the refined petroleum products from these feedstocks could have a significant effect on our Energy segment’s financial results and a decline in market prices may negatively impact the carrying value of its inventories.

Profitability is also impacted by the ability to purchase crude oil at a discount to benchmark crude oils, such as West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”), as the petroleum business does not produce any crude oil and must purchase all of the crude oil it refines. Crude oil differentials can fluctuate significantly based upon overall economic and crude oil market conditions. Adverse changes in crude oil differentials can adversely impact refining margins, earnings and cash flows. In addition, the petroleum business’ purchases of crude oil, although based on WTI prices, have historically been at a discount to WTI because of the proximity of the refineries to the sources, existing logistics infrastructure and quality differences. Any change in the sources of crude oil, infrastructure or logistical improvements or quality differences could result in a reduction of the petroleum business’ historical discount to WTI and may result in a reduction of our Energy segment’s cost advantage.

Volatile prices for natural gas and electricity affect the petroleum business’ manufacturing and operating costs. Natural gas and electricity prices have been, and will continue to be, affected by supply and demand for fuel and utility services in both local and regional markets.

Compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Renewable Fuel Standard, with respect to our Energy segment, could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) has promulgated the Renewable Fuel Standards (“RFS”), which requires refiners to either blend “renewable fuels,” such as ethanol and biodiesel, into their transportation fuels or purchase renewable fuel credits, known as renewable identification numbers (“RINs”), in lieu of blending. Under the RFS, the volume of renewable fuels that refineries like Coffeyville and Wynnewood are obligated to blend into their finished petroleum products is adjusted annually by the EPA. The petroleum business is not able to blend the substantial majority of its transportation fuels, so it has to purchase RINs on the open market as well as waiver credits for cellulosic biofuels from the EPA, in order to comply with the RFS. The price of RINs has been extremely volatile as the EPA’s proposed renewable fuel volume mandates approached and exceeded the “blend wall.” The blend wall refers to the point at which the amount of ethanol blended into the transportation fuel supply exceeds the demand for transportation fuel containing such levels of ethanol. The blend wall is generally considered to be reached when more than 10% ethanol by volume (“E10 gasoline”) is blended into transportation fuel.

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The petroleum business cannot predict the future prices of RINs. The price of RINs has been extremely volatile in the past. Additionally, the cost of RINs is dependent upon a variety of factors, which include the availability of RINs for purchase, the price at which RINs can be purchased, transportation fuel production levels, the mix of the petroleum business’ petroleum products, as well as the fuel blending performed at the refineries and downstream terminals, all of which can vary significantly from period to period. However, the costs to obtain the necessary number of RINs and waiver credits could be material, if the price for RINs increases. Additionally, because the petroleum business does not produce renewable fuels, increasing the volume of renewable fuels that must be blended into its products displaces an increasing volume of the refineries’ product pool, potentially resulting in lower earnings and materially adversely affecting the petroleum business’ cash flows. If the demand for the petroleum business’ transportation fuel decreases as a result of the use of increasing volumes of renewable fuels, increased fuel economy as a result of new EPA fuel economy standards, or other factors, the impact on its business could be material. If sufficient RINs are unavailable for purchase, if the petroleum business has to pay a significantly higher price for RINs or if the petroleum business is otherwise unable to meet the EPA’s RFS mandates, its business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Commodity derivative contracts, particularly with respect to our Energy segment, may limit our potential gains, exacerbate potential losses and involve other risks.

Our Energy segment’s petroleum business may enter into commodity derivatives contracts to mitigate crack spread risk with respect to a portion of its expected refined products production. However, its hedging arrangements may fail to fully achieve these objectives for a variety of reasons, including its failure to have adequate hedging contracts, if any, in effect at any particular time and the failure of its hedging arrangements to produce the anticipated results. The petroleum business may not be able to procure adequate hedging arrangements due to a variety of factors. Moreover, such transactions may limit its ability to benefit from favorable changes in margins. In addition, the petroleum business’ hedging activities may expose it to the risk of financial loss in certain circumstances, including instances in which:

As a result, the effectiveness of CVR Energy’s risk mitigation strategy could have a material adverse impact on our Energy segment’s financial results and cash flows.

Our subsidiaries’ competitors may be larger and have greater financial resources and operational capabilities than our subsidiaries do, which may require them or us to invest significant additional capital in order to effectively compete. Our investments, or our subsidiaries’ investments, may not achieve desired results.

Our operating subsidiaries face competitive pressures within markets in which they operate. We manage our subsidiaries with the objective of growing their value over time by, among other means, investing in and strengthening our subsidiaries’ competitive advantages. Many factors, including availability of financial resources, supply chain capabilities and local market changes, may limit our ability to strengthen our subsidiaries’ competitive advantages. In addition, competitors may be significantly larger than our subsidiaries are and may have greater financial resources and operational capabilities. Accordingly, our subsidiaries may require significant additional resources, which may not be available to them through internally generated cash flows. With respect to our Automotive segment, we have invested significant resources in various initiatives to remain competitive and stimulate growth. In addition, we will continue to consider strategic alternatives in our automotive aftermarket parts business to maximize value. If we are unable to implement these initiatives efficiently and effectively, or if these initiatives are unsuccessful, our consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.

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Certain of our subsidiaries have operations in foreign countries which expose them to risks related to economic and political conditions, currency fluctuations, import/export restrictions, regulatory and other risks.

Certain of our subsidiaries are global businesses and have manufacturing and distribution facilities in many countries. International operations are subject to certain risks including:

The likelihood of such occurrences and their potential effect on our businesses are unpredictable and vary from country-to-country.

Certain of our businesses’ operating entities report their financial condition and results of operations in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar. The reported results of these entities are translated into U.S. Dollars at the applicable exchange rates for reporting in our consolidated financial statements. As a result, fluctuations in the U.S. Dollar against foreign currencies will affect the value at which the results of these entities are included within our consolidated results. Our businesses are exposed to a risk of loss from changes in foreign exchange rates whenever they, or one of their foreign subsidiaries, enters into a purchase or sales agreement in a currency other than its functional currency. Such changes in exchange rates could affect our businesses’ financial condition or results of operations.

Certain of our businesses have substantial indebtedness, which could restrict their business activities and/or could subject them to significant interest rate risk.

Our subsidiaries’ inability to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy their debt obligations, or to refinance their debt obligations on commercially reasonable terms, would have a material adverse effect on their businesses, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, covenants in debt instruments could limit their ability to engage in certain transactions and pursue their business strategies, which could adversely affect liquidity.

Our subsidiaries’ indebtedness could:

Certain of our subsidiaries’ indebtedness accrue interest at variable rates. To the extent market interest rates rise, the cost of their debt would increase, adversely affecting their financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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A significant labor dispute involving any of our businesses or one or more of their customers or suppliers or that could otherwise affect our operations could adversely affect our financial performance.

A substantial number of our operating subsidiaries’ employees and the employees of its largest customers and suppliers are represented by labor unions under collective bargaining agreements. There can be no assurances that future negotiations with the unions will be resolved favorably or that our subsidiaries will not experience a work stoppage or disruption that could adversely affect its financial condition, operating results and cash flows. A labor dispute involving any of our businesses, particularly within our Energy segment, any of its customers or suppliers or any other suppliers to its customers or that otherwise affects our subsidiaries’ operations, or the inability by it, any of its customers or suppliers or any other suppliers to its customers to negotiate, upon the expiration of a labor agreement, an extension of such agreement or a new agreement on satisfactory terms could adversely affect our financial condition, operating results and cash flows. In addition, if any of our subsidiaries’ significant customers experience a material work stoppage, the customer may halt or limit the purchase of its products. This could require certain businesses to shut down or significantly reduce production at facilities relating to such products, which could adversely affect our business.

General Risk Factors

General

All of our businesses are subject to the effects of the following:

We need qualified personnel to manage and operate our various businesses.

In our decentralized business model, we need qualified and competent management to direct day-to-day business activities of our operating subsidiaries. Our operating subsidiaries also need qualified and competent personnel in executing their business plans and serving their customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Changes in demographics, training requirements and the unavailability of qualified personnel could negatively impact one or more of our significant operating subsidiaries ability to meet demands of customers to supply goods and services. Recruiting and retaining qualified personnel is important to all of our operations. Although we have adequate personnel for the current business environment, unpredictable increases in demand for goods and services may exacerbate the risk of not having sufficient numbers of trained personnel, which could have a negative impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

The COVID-19 pandemic has, and may continue to have, a material adverse impact on our and our subsidiaries’ operations and financial performance, as well as on the operations and financial performance of many of the customers and suppliers in our operating segments. We are unable to predict the extent to which the pandemic and related impacts will adversely impact our business operations, financial performance, results of operations, and financial position.

Our and our subsidiaries’ operations and financial performance have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused, and may continue to cause, a global slowdown of economic activity, disruptions in global supply chains and significant volatility and disruption of financial markets. Because the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences are uncertain, rapidly changing and difficult to predict, the pandemic’s impact on our and our subsidiaries’ operations and financial performance, remains uncertain.

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Our consolidated results of operations and financial condition have been impacted primarily by the net declines in fair value of investments held by our Investment segment and the Holding Company as well as declines in the global demand for crude oil, refined products and liquid transportation fuels with respect to our Energy segment. The impact on our businesses has also included the acceleration of planned store closures in our Automotive segment, lowering current year forecasts across various segments and recording write-downs to inventories and other assets. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic may subject our and our subsidiaries’ operations, financial performance and financial condition to a number of additional operational-related, market-related and liquidity and funding-related risks.

The COVID-19 pandemic may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in the risk factors set forth herein. In particular, see the risk factors: “We are a holding company and dependent upon the businesses of our subsidiaries to satisfy our obligations”; “To service our indebtedness, we will require a significant amount of cash”; “Our ability to maintain our current cash position or generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control”; “We have made significant investments in the Investment Funds and negative performance of the Investment Funds may result in a significant decline in the value of our investments”; “We need qualified personnel to manage and operate our various businesses”; “Global economic conditions may have adverse impacts on our businesses and financial condition”; and “Our Energy segment’s businesses are, and commodity prices are, cyclical and highly volatile, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.”

The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively impact our business and operations will depend on the severity, location, and duration of the effects and spread of COVID-19, the actions undertaken by national, regional, and local governments and health officials to contain such virus or remedy its effects, and if, how quickly and to what extent economic conditions recover and normal business and operating conditions resume. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic may affect our operating and financial results in a manner that is not presently known to us or that we currently do not expect to present significant risks to our operations or financial results.

Global economic conditions may have adverse impacts on our businesses and financial condition.

Changes in economic conditions could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. A number of economic factors, including, but not limited to, consumer interest rates, consumer confidence and debt levels, retail trends, housing starts, sales of existing homes, the level and availability of mortgage refinancing, and commodity prices, may generally adversely affect our businesses, financial condition and results of operations. Recessionary economic cycles, higher and protracted unemployment rates, increased fuel and other energy and commodity costs, rising costs of transportation and increased tax rates can have a material adverse impact on our businesses, and may adversely affect demand for sales of our businesses’ products, or the costs of materials and services utilized in their operations. These factors could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, income from operations and our cash flows.

We and our subsidiaries are subject to cybersecurity and other technological risks that could disrupt our information technology systems and adversely affect our financial performance.

Threats to information technology systems associated with cybersecurity and other technological risks and cyber incidents or attacks continue to grow. We and our subsidiaries depend on the accuracy, capacity and security of our information technology systems and those used by our third-party service providers. In addition, we and our subsidiaries collect, process and retain sensitive and confidential information in the normal course of business, including information about our employees, customers and other third parties. Despite the security measures we have in place and any additional measures we may implement in the future, our facilities, systems, and networks, and those of our third-party service providers, could be vulnerable to security breaches, computer viruses, lost or misplaced data, programming errors, human errors, employee misconduct, malicious attacks, acts of vandalism or other events. In addition, hardware, software or applications we develop or obtain from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could result in security breaches or disruptions. These events or any other disruption or compromise of our or our third-party service providers’ information technology systems could negatively impact our business operations or result in the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized disclosure of sensitive and confidential information. Such events could damage our reputation, expose us to the risks of litigation and liability, disrupt our business or otherwise affect our results of operations, any of which could adversely affect our financial performance.

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Software implementation and upgrades at certain of our subsidiaries may result in complications that adversely impact the timeliness, accuracy and reliability of internal and external reporting.

Our operating subsidiaries are operated and managed on a decentralized basis and their software is not integrated with each other or with us. Certain of our subsidiaries are currently undergoing, or in the future may undergo, software implementation and/or upgrades. Software implementation and upgrades are complex, time consuming and require significant resources. Failure to properly implement or upgrade software, including failure to recruit/retain appropriate experts, train employees, implement processes and properly bridge to legacy software, among others, may negatively impact our subsidiaries’ ability to properly operate their businesses and to report internally and externally, including reporting to us. As a result, we may not adequately assess the performance of our subsidiaries, properly allocate resources report timely and accurate financial results.

We or our subsidiaries may pursue acquisitions or other affiliations that involve inherent risks, any of which may cause us not to realize anticipated benefits, and we may have difficulty integrating the operations of any companies that may be acquired, which may adversely affect its operations.

We may expand our existing businesses if appropriate opportunities are identified, as well as use our established businesses as a platform for additional acquisitions in the same or related areas. We and our operating subsidiaries have at times grown through acquisitions and may make additional acquisitions in the future as part of our business strategy. The full benefits of these acquisitions, however, require integration of manufacturing, administrative, financial, sales, and marketing approaches and personnel. We may invest significant resources towards realizing benefits. If we or our operating subsidiaries are unable to successfully integrate acquired businesses, we may not realize the benefits of the acquisitions, our financial results may be negatively affected, and additional cash may be required to integrate such operations. Additionally, any such acquisition, if consummated, could involve risks not presently faced by us.

The existence of a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting of us or one of our consolidated subsidiaries or a recently acquired entity may adversely affect our ability to provide timely and reliable financial information necessary for the conduct of our business and satisfaction of our reporting obligations under the federal securities laws.

To the extent that any material weakness or significant deficiency exists in internal control over financial reporting of us or one of our consolidated subsidiaries or a recently acquired entity, such material weakness or significant deficiency may adversely affect our ability to provide timely and reliable financial information necessary for the conduct of our business and satisfaction of our reporting obligations under the federal securities laws, that could affect our ability to remain listed on Nasdaq. Ineffective internal and disclosure controls could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our depositary units or the rating of our debt.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

Our Holding Company and Investment segment lease office space in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. The principal physical properties at our other operating segments are as follows:

Energy

CVR Energy owns and operates two oil refineries as well as office buildings located in Coffeyville, Kansas and Wynnewood, Oklahoma. CVR Energy also owns and operates two fertilizer plants in Coffeyville, Kansas and East Dubuque, Illinois. CVR Energy owns crude oil storage facilities in Kansas and Oklahoma, refined oil storage facilities at its Wynnewood, Oklahoma refinery location, and fertilizer storage facilities at its East Dubuque, Illinois fertilizer plant location. CVR Energy also leases additional crude oil storage facilities.

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Automotive

Icahn Automotive’s operations include approximately 1,500 company operated store locations, 753 franchise locations and 40 distributions centers throughout the United States. Approximately 62% of Icahn Automotive’s facilities are leased and the remainder are owned.

Food Packaging

Viskase’s operations include ten manufacturing facilities throughout North America, Europe, South America and Asia.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

We are, and will continue to be, subject to litigation from time to time in the ordinary course of our business. We also incorporate by reference into this Item 3 of this Report, the information regarding the lawsuits and proceedings described and referenced in Note 18, “Commitments and Contingencies,” to the consolidated financial statements as set forth in Item 8 of this Report.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

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PART II

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Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Security Holder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information

Icahn Enterprises’ depositary units are traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “IEP.”

Holders of Record

As of December 31, 2020, there were approximately 1,840 record holders of Icahn Enterprises’ depositary units including multiple beneficial holders at depositories, banks and brokers listed as a single record holder in the street name of each respective depository, bank or broker.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

During the first quarter of 2017, the board of directors of the general partner of Icahn Enterprises unanimously approved and adopted the Icahn Enterprises L.P. 2017 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “2017 Incentive Plan”), which became effective during the first quarter of 2017 subject to the approval by holders of a majority of Icahn Enterprises depositary units. The 2017 Incentive Plan permits us to issue depositary units and grant options, restricted units or other unit-based awards to all of our, and our affiliates’, employees, consultants, members and partners, as well as the three non-employee directors of our general partner. One million of Icahn Enterprises’ depositary units were initially available under the 2017 Incentive Plan. As of December 31, 2020, there were no securities to be issued upon the exercise of outstanding options, warrants or rights. The number of securities remaining available for future issuance under the 2017 Incentive Plan as of December 31, 2020 is 949,999 of Icahn Enterprises’ depositary units.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

Not applicable.

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion is intended to assist you in understanding our present business and the results of operations together with our present financial condition. This section should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes contained in this Report.

Executive Overview

Introduction

Icahn Enterprises L.P. (“Icahn Enterprises”) is a master limited partnership formed in Delaware on February 17, 1987. Icahn Enterprises Holdings L.P. (“Icahn Enterprises Holdings”) is a limited partnership formed in Delaware on February 17, 1987. References to “we,” “our” or “us” herein include both Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings and their subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires.

Icahn Enterprises owns a 99% limited partner interest in Icahn Enterprises Holdings. Icahn Enterprises Holdings and its subsidiaries own substantially all of the assets and liabilities of Icahn Enterprises and conduct substantially all of its operations. Therefore, the financial results of Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings are substantially the same, with differences relating primarily to the allocation of the general partner interest. We do not discuss Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings separately unless we believe it is necessary to an understanding of the businesses.

We are a diversified holding company owning subsidiaries currently engaged in the following continuing operating businesses: Investment, Energy, Automotive, Food Packaging, Metals, Real Estate, Home Fashion and, as of December 2020, Pharma. We also report the results of our Holding Company, which includes the results of certain subsidiaries of Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings (unless otherwise noted), and investment activity and expenses associated with our Holding Company. Our historical results also report the results of our Mining segment, until sold on August 1, 2019, and our Railcar segment through the date we sold our last remaining railcars on lease, which occurred in the third quarter of 2018.

Significant Transactions and Developments

Current Economic Conditions

In March 2020, the World Health Organization categorized COVID-19 as a pandemic and the President of the United States declared the COVID-19 outbreak a national emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic, and actions taken by governments and others in response thereto, has negatively impacted the global economy, financial markets, and the industries in which our subsidiaries operate. Our consolidated results of operations and financial condition have been impacted primarily by the volatility in the fair value of investments held by our Investment segment and the Holding Company (primarily unrealized) as well as declines in the global demand for refined products, especially gasoline and diesel fuels, with respect to our Energy segment. The impact on our businesses has also included the acceleration of selective planned store closures in our Automotive segment, lowering current year forecasts across various segments and recording write-downs to inventories. The extent and duration of the impact on our future results of operations, liquidity and financial condition is uncertain and may be significant. However, we believe that we and our subsidiaries have sufficient available liquidity to meet anticipated cash requirements for at least the next twelve months.

Debt Issuances

In January 2020, Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Finance Corp. (together the “Issuers”) issued an additional $600 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.750% senior unsecured notes due 2024 (the “New 2024 Notes”) and an additional $250 million in aggregate principal amount of 5.250% senior unsecured notes due 2027 (the “New 2027 Notes”) The proceeds from these notes, together with cash on hand, were used to redeem all of our prior outstanding $1.35 billion principal amount of 5.875% senior unsecured notes due 2022, and to pay accrued interest, related fees and expenses.

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In January 2021, the Issuers issued $750 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.375% senior unsecured notes due 2029 (the “New 2029 Notes”). The proceeds from these notes, together with cash on hand, were used to redeem $750 million principal amount of our 6.250% senior unsecured notes due 2022, and to pay accrued interest, related fees and expenses.

Acquisition of Vivus, Inc.

In December 2020, we acquired all of the outstanding common stock of Vivus, Inc. (“Vivus”) upon its emergence from bankruptcy. Prior to Vivus’ emergence from bankruptcy, we held an investment in all of Vivus’ convertible corporate debt securities as well as all of its other outstanding debt. As a result of this transaction, we consolidate the results of Vivus beginning December 2020 and report the results within our new Pharma segment.

Results of Operations

Consolidated Financial Results

Our operating businesses comprise consolidated subsidiaries which operate in various industries and are managed on a decentralized basis. In addition to our Investment segment’s revenues from investment transactions, revenues for our continuing operating businesses primarily consist of net sales of various products, services revenue, franchisor operations and leasing of real estate. Due to the structure and nature of our business, we primarily discuss the results of operations by individual reporting segment in order to better understand our consolidated operating performance. Certain other financial information is discussed on a consolidated basis following our segment discussion, including other revenues and expenses included in continuing operations as well as our results from discontinued operations. In addition to the summarized financial results below, refer to Note 13, “Segment and Geographic Reporting,” to the consolidated financial statements for a reconciliation of each of our reporting segment’s results of continuing operations to our consolidated results.

The comparability of our summarized consolidated financial results presented below is affected by, among other factors, (i) the performance of the Investment Funds, (ii) the results of our Energy segment’s operations, impacted by the demand and prices for its products, (iii) impairment charges, primarily in our Automotive segment in 2018 and (iv) the sale of Ferrous Resources in 2019. Refer to our respective segment discussions and “Other Consolidated Results of Operations,” below for further discussion.

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