NEW YORK, Jan 4 — Activist investor Carl Icahn has sold more than half his stake in Herbalife Nutrition Ltd for US$600 million (RM2.3 billion) and is planning to give up the five seats on the company’s board held by his representatives, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

Icahn, who had a 15.5 per cent stake in Herbalife as of September 30, sold about 10 per cent back to the company in recent days, the newspaper reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter.

That has left him with a roughly 6 per cent stake, worth US$400 million, in the multi-level marketing company, whose products include dietary supplements, according to the report.

Representatives for Icahn and Herbalife did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment yesterday.

Icahn began buying Herbalife shares in 2013 while extolling the company and had since been its largest shareholder. — Reuters