Icahn says blog to go live on Thursday

By Dane Hamilton

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Post can finally drop its Carl Icahn blog-watch timer. The long-delayed Icahn Report blog is going live on Thursday, the financier and corporate agitator said on Wednesday.

The billionaire investor first disclosed that he will join the blogosphere in February, offering up anecdotes and a running commentary on what he describes as the desultory state of corporate governance in America.

But since then, the blog, icahnreport.com, hasn't contained any content, prompting the New York Post website to publish a daily "Carl 'I Can't' Blog Counter," with a live timer showing how many days, hours, minutes and seconds the blog has been quiet.

(On Wednesday at 4:42 PM EDT, that was 138 days, 23 hours, 10 minutes and 22 seconds).

Icahn, who has been embroiled in various high-profile proxy battles of late, including seeking a board change at Yahoo Inc, said previously his lawyers stopped him from writing anything. Now those concerns have been swept aside.

"We're hoping for a grass-roots response to this down the road," said Icahn in an interview. "We want to get shareholders to realize they should be doing something."

"Corporate democracy is a myth in America and its a problem in this economy and one reason we don't compete in many areas," said Icahn. "With many exceptions, there really is no accountability."

The launch of the Icahn Report has been delayed before. In April, the 72-year-old takeover veteran said his blog would go live "in a week or two."

(Reporting by Dane Hamilton, editing by Richard Chang)