NEW YORK (Reuters) – Carl Icahn turned 75 last month, but the activist investor is a long way from riding off into the sunset.

On the contrary, the billionaire is shaking up corporations and dominating headlines with the same prowess he has shown for three decades.

Whether battling for control of power company Dynegy Inc, pushing cell phone and computing company Motorola to break itself up, or bidding for chip design software maker Mentor Graphics Corp, Icahn is on track for one of his busiest years ever.

But he says his recent spurt of activity simply reflects the feast or famine nature of his quest for undervalued companies.

“Most companies can do something to make themselves more effective and enhance value,” Icahn said in an interview with Reuters. “These opportunities sometimes come not in a very orderly sequence, but you can get three or four that work well right at the same time.”

With disclosed U.S. equity positions worth $13.2 billion, Icahn ranked fourth among the “Smart Money 30″ group at the end of 2010, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. The group includes some of the largest stock-picking equity hedge funds, led by John Paulson’s Paulson & Co and its $34.4 billion.

Hedge funds, which on average returned only 4.5 percent last year, have been betting that shareholder activism will be one of their winning strategies for 2011. Where strategies like classic long-short equity trading have stumbled in volatile markets, activists like Icahn and Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman are seeing some of the strongest returns in the industry.

NEW YORK, March 7 (Reuters) – Carl Icahn turned 75 last month, but the activist investor is a long way from riding off into the sunset.

On the contrary, the billionaire is shaking up corporations and dominating headlines with the same prowess he has shown for three decades.

Whether battling for control of power company Dynegy Inc (DYN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), pushing cell phone and computing company Motorola to break itself up, or bidding for chip design software maker Mentor Graphics Corp (MENT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Icahn is on track for one of his busiest years ever.

But he says his recent spurt of activity simply reflects the feast or famine nature of his quest for undervalued companies.

“Most companies can do something to make themselves more effective and enhance value,” Icahn said in an interview with Reuters. “These opportunities sometimes come not in a very orderly sequence, but you can get three or four that work well right at the same time.”

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For a chart of Icahn’s top performing stocks, see r.reuters.com/cyv38r