Carl Icahn’s audacious pitch to take control of the Time Warner board and split the company always seemed like a long shot. Institutional investors were unlikely to hand over the keys to their company for no premium in the hope that radical surgery would unleash value. Time Warner was hardly the sort of terminal patient that would warrant such risk-taking from conservative shareholders.

The fact that such a climbdown was predictable does not make it easier for Mr Icahn and his advisers. But the activists can still claim some credit. Without Mr Icahn’s pressure, it is unlikely that Time Warner would have agreed to Friday’s steps: a much bigger buyback and aggressive cost-cuts of $1bn. The buyback, up from $12.5bn to $20bn, could add about 10 per cent to forecast 2007 per share earnings. The other undertakings were a lot more woolly. An agreement to consult, review and discuss is not the sort of meat the market can get its teeth into.