President-elect Donald Trump has tapped one of the nation's richest men to be a special adviser on issues regarding regulatory reform.
Carl Icahn, a veteran of Wall Street who founded his own securities firm, was named by Trump on Wednesday.
Icahn, an early Trump supporter, is estimated to be worth more than $16 billion. Trump in a statement said the 80-year-old Icahn, one of the nation's leading investors, 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."
Earlier in the week, New Jersey lawmakers gave final approval to a bill that would punish Icahn for closing Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal casino. The bill would impose a five-year license suspension for anyone shutting down a casino after January 2016 which means it would only apply to Icahn at this point, even though four other casinos have closed since 2014.
Trump built the Taj Mahal casino in 1990 but cut most ties with Atlantic City in 2009. Icahn acquired the casino from bankruptcy court in March. He decided in August to shut the casino down on Oct. 10, eliminating nearly 3,000 jobs.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to cut back on the number of government regulations on American business owners. Icahn said in a statement American businesses "have been crippled" by regulations.
Also Wednesday, Trump named a fierce critic of China, economist Peter Navarro, to lead a newly created White House trade council.
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The University of California-Irvine professor, who advised Trump during the campaign, will serve as head of the new White House National Trade Council and as director of trade and industrial policy.
In a statement, the Trump transition team said the creation of the council "demonstrates the president-elect's determination to make American manufacturing great again."
Trump says China's unfair trade practices are responsible for wiping out American factory jobs and has threatened to impose taxes on Chinese imports. U.S. manufacturers have cut 5 million jobs since 2000.
Navarro, author of "Death By China," also endorses a hard line approach toward relations with China.
