Activist investor Carl Icahn is reportedly in talks to keep his son, Brett Icahn, in the company in preparation for potential future where the younger Icahn holds the reins to the his $36 billion hedge fund.
The 80-year-old CEO of Icahn Enterprises (IEP) is also looking at Brett Icahn’s partner, 40-year-old David Schechter, as a potential co-lead in the firm when Carl Icahn chooses to step down, New York Post reported, citing sources with an understanding of the matter.
Over the course of about six years, the two managers have been credited with increasing the firm’s Sargon Portfolio to $7 billion in assets under management, and posting a near 37% annualized rate of return by April 2015 while overall fund suffered a loss of 18% in 2015.
Sargon Portfolio opened in 2010 with $300 million under management. In 2012, Carl Icahn allocated another $3 billion to the portfolio. That move was seen as a sign that the elder Icahn was both trusting and testing his 36-year-old son and Schechter to run a significant chunk of the firm.
“They had a tougher deal than any hedge fund manager I can think of, and their returns were better than any manager I can think of, so they certainly earned their stripes,” Carl Icahn told the Post, though he didn’t comment on the negotiations.
The two, who have also been credited with making two of Icahn Enterprises’ key investments in Netflix (NFLX) and Apple (APPL), are slated to earn about $250 million by September, under a contract entitling the managers to about 7.5% of the profits that exceed a 4% compounded hurdle rate.
The Post reported that Brett Icahn and David Schechter could end up opening their own hedge fund.
Fortune has reached out to Icahn Enterprises, and is waiting for comment.