Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said that he bought stocks in the overnight market on declines and that Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election win was a "step in the right direction" for the U.S. economy.

"I really think it's a very important thing for our economy in general." Icahn told CNBC. 

"I saw that market going down like insanity, and I personally don't believe that Trump is bad for the market necessarily, so I left and went home and I bought a lot of stock in the overnight market," he said.

Icahn has been a vocal supporter of Trump's bid to win the presidency and had turned down a chance to be on his economic advisory team because the chairman of Icahn Enterprises was considering funding a super PAC.