:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63701434/icahn_great_and_powerful1.0.1485002925.0.jpg)
A theoretical Donald Trump presidency, already a peculiar possibility, became even zanier for tech companies. Carl Icahn leapt into the mix.
On Friday, a day after Trump held court at the first Republican presidential debate, his fellow billionaire — and frequent meddler in public tech companies, such as Apple and eBay — tweeted out that he would accept Trump’s offer to serve as Treasury Secretary in his administration.
1/3 After last night’s debate I decided to accept @realDonaldTrump offer for Secretary of Treasury.
— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) August 7, 2015
Back in June, the real estate mogul, who is currently leading (very early) polling in the GOP field, extended the offer to the activist investor. Icahn then politely declined. “I am flattered but do not get up early enough in the morning to accept this opportunity,” Icahn wrote in a blog post. He did, however, praise Trump’s stance against low interest rates, which both men believe is fueling a stock bubble.
Something about the GOP debates, it seems, tipped the scales for the investor.
2/3 Seriously, the methods of electing our corporate and political leaders have become completely dysfunctional.
— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) August 7, 2015
3/3 In both areas, we are in dire need of a breath of fresh air.
— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) August 7, 2015
Icahn could be joking. Although some investor relations specialists in Cupertino would tell you that Icahn, who regularly and quite publicly pushes Apple to accelerate shareholder buybacks, can be profoundly serious.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
