Some look up to activist investor Carl Icahn, chairman of Icahn Enterprises Holdings, and some look down on him. But he looks at himself and other activist investors as economic saviors.

"I think what we do must be done if we're going to retain our hegemony and even if we want to avoid another real collapse in the economy," the billionaire tells CNBC. "I definitely believe we help a great deal. I do believe that."

Activist investors like Icahn seek to push the companies in which they invest to adopt policies that will increase the companies' share price.

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He has no problem being called a disruptor.

"Well, the way I define disruptive, it's an honor," Icahn argues. "I think being disruptive to a board and to a CEO that is doing a bad job, it's an honor to do that. It helps society."

He also makes no apologies for his no-holds-barred style.

"I have a lot of intellectual security," Icahn explains. "I look at these criticisms, and I'm sort of inured to it because I just think, 'Who the hell are these guys to say what they're saying?'"

One thing is for sure, activist investors are having an impact on corporate executives. In a recent poll of 1,600 executives in 54 countries by Ernst & Young, 96 percent said activist investors are helping them to better implement cost cutting, buybacks, divestitures and mergers and acquisitions.

"In the U.S., the shareholder activism trend is at its apex," the Global Capital Confidence Barometer report states. "Our survey finds nearly 19 out of 20 executives saying issues raised by shareholders have shaped their boardroom agendas."

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