President-elect Donald Trump didn't have to look far to for his regulatory reform czar, just straight down Wall Street.

Trump tapped famed activist investor Carl Icahn on Dec. 21 to head up his efforts to roll back federal regulations the new administration sees as hampering economic growth.

"Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world's great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated," Trump said in a statement.

The Trump transition team noted that Icahn will not be serving as a federal employee in the role, but merely as an special advisor on how to unwind some of the regulatory network constructed over the past eight years.

"Under President Obama, America’s business owners have been crippled by over $1 trillion in new regulations and over 750 billion hours dealing with paperwork," Icahn said in a statement.

Icahn is famous for his role in the hostile takeovers of a number of companies, notably TWA in 1985, and proxy fights for shareholder control of companies like Yahoo, Time Warner and Motorola, among others, where his proposed corporate spinoffs and breakups to increase stock values.

Trump has had Obama-era regulations and executive order in his sights since his days on the campaign trail, pledging to eliminate two regulations for every new one proposed, as the president-elect outlined in his "Contract with the American Voter,"his legislative plan for the first 100 days of the administration.

Icahn’s history as a corporate pugilist and activist investor could play right into that goal.

"It’s time to break free of excessive regulation and let our entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs and support communities," Icahn said.

Trump continues to fill his cabinet with a mix of military, government and private sector professionals, though the selection of Icahn falls in line with the president-elect’s Wall Street picks of Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin Treasury Secretary.

"He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies. His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable," Trump said of Icahn.

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