No, I think Icann felt he had seen a similar attack on Amway and Amway won. Ackman put himself in a no-win situation. Icann does things to make a profit, not for spite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway#Pyramid_scheme_accusatio...

Doubtful that he would have made that investment if it werent for ackman's short.

Why invest in something that has an activist fighting against it? Better to go with something unopposed.

You can make a lot of money taking the other side of a big bad bet.