Carl Icahn Promises He “Definitely” Has a CEO in Mind to Run Dell (Video)

Carl Icahn repeated today that he has an executive in mind who he plans to name to run the struggling computer company Dell if and when he gets the chance.

Speaking on CNBC a little while ago — and for once in person and not on the phone — Icahn said he “definitely does” have a list of executives he would call if he gets control of the company in the event that a shareholder vote goes against the $24.4 billion leveraged buyout proposal being brought by CEO Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to get someone,” he said.

Icahn otherwise broke no new ground during the interview and essentially reiterated comments he made before. Last week in another TV interview he revealed that he was about to boost his bid for an alternative recapitalization plan. The next day he added warrants that would allow shareholders the right to buy additional shares in Dell within seven years.

Dell shares fell more than one percent during the regular session to $12.88, or 77 cents below the $13.65 buyout price that Dell and Silver Lake have proposed, as reports emerged that various large institutional shareholders — Vanguard and State Street among them — plan to vote against the buyout. The shares rose slightly after hours after Icahn’s comments were aired.

Icahn talked about a lot of other subjects, too. Among other things, he took credit for pressuring Motorola to spin off its mobile phone business. You’ll recall it’s now the mobile hardware division of Google (although he has trouble pronouncing Sanjay Jha’s name). But the seven-minute section below contains the most interesting bits about tomorrow’s Dell vote.