Blockbuster Chief Antioco Hits Back At Icahn  (FORBES.COM)
Chris Noon, 04.18.05, 1:25 PM ET

NEW YORK - Doers and doings in business, entertainment and technology:

Icahn-oclastic? Carl Icahn's criticism of Blockbuster's (nyse: BBI - news - people ) failure to buy rival Hollywood Entertainment (nasdaq: HLYW - news - people ) has needled Blockbuster Chief Executive John Antioco. The CEO rapped Icahn on the knuckles in a letter Monday morning, lambasting comments made by the company's largest shareholder as "inaccurate and potentially misleading". A spunky reply: Financier Icahn, who currently holds about 9.8% of Blockbuster, blasted Blockbuster earlier this month for its failure to buy out Hollywood and said he planned to nominate directors who would trim spending, cap bonuses and pay bigger dividends. But the chief of the U.S.' largest movie-rental chain said that chickening out of its long-term plans was not an option, since it could "bring about a precipitous drop in our future cash flow from which there may be no recovery." And stop playing the agent provocateur, Antioco cautioned Icahn: "The turmoil and uncertainty you have created threaten to distract the organization and jeopardize our success and could prove damaging to shareholder value," read the CEO's letter. Icahn, the one-time corporate raider, has now turned shareholder activist, turning his wrath against companies like Temple-Inland (nyse: TIN - news - people ), King Pharmaceuticals (nyse: KG - news - people ) and Kerr-McGee (nyse: KMG - news - people ).

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