Kirk Kerkorian
Kirk Kerkorian | |
---|---|
Born | Kerkor Kerkorian June 6, 1917 Fresno, California, U.S. |
Died | June 15, 2015 | (aged 98)
Resting place | Inglewood Park Cemetery |
Citizenship |
|
Years active | 1940–2015 |
Spouses | Hilda Schmidt
(m. 1942; div. 1951)Jean Maree Harbour-Hardy
(m. 1954; div. 1984)Una Davis
(m. 2014; sep. 2014) |
Children | 2 |
Awards | National Hero of Armenia (2004)[1] |
Kerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian (
movie studio in 1969.Of Armenian descent, Kerkorian provided over $1 billion for charity in
Early years
Kirk Kerkorian
Business career
Aviation
Sensing the onset of World War II, and not wanting to join the infantry, Kerkorian learned to fly at the Happy Bottom Riding Club in the Mojave Desert—adjacent to the United States Army Air Corps's Muroc Field, now Edwards Air Force Base. In exchange for flying lessons from pioneer aviator Pancho Barnes, he agreed to milk and look after her cattle.
On gaining his commercial pilot's certificate in six months, Kerkorian learned that the British
After the war, having saved most of his wages, Kerkorian spent $5,000 on a Cessna. He worked as a general aviation pilot and made his first visit to Las Vegas in 1944. After spending much time in Las Vegas during the 1940s, Kerkorian quit gambling and in 1947 paid $60,000 for Trans International Airlines, which was a small air-charter service that flew gamblers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. He then bid on some war surplus bombers, using money on loan from Seagram's. Gasoline, and especially airplane fuel, was in short supply at the time, so he sold the fuel from the planes' tanks, paid off his loan, and still had the airplanes. He operated the airline until 1968 when he sold it for $104 million to the Transamerica Corporation.[15]
Las Vegas
In 1962, Kerkorian bought 80 acres (32 ha) in Las Vegas, across the Las Vegas Strip from the Flamingo, for $960,000. This purchase led to the building of Caesars Palace, which rented the land from Kerkorian; the rent and eventual sale of the land to Caesars in 1968 made Kerkorian $9 million ($70 million today).[16]
In 1967, he bought 82 acres (33 ha) of land on Paradise Road in Las Vegas for $5 million and, with architect
After he purchased the
In 1986, Kerkorian sold the MGM Grand hotels in Las Vegas and
MGM sold its Treasure Island Hotel and Casino property to billionaire and former New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin for $750 million.[19]
MGM
In 1969, Kerkorian appointed
Turner kept ownership of MGM from March 25 to August 26, 1986. He racked up huge debts and Turner simply could not afford to keep the studio under those circumstances. To recoup his investment, Turner sold the production/distribution assets and trademarks of MGM (including its post-April 1986 libraries) to United Artists while retaining the pre-May 1986 MGM library,
In 2005, Kerkorian sold MGM once more to a consortium led by Sony. He retained a 55% stake in MGM Mirage.[25]
On November 22, 2006, Kerkorian's Tracinda investment corporation offered to buy 15 million shares of MGM Mirage to increase his stake in the gambling giant from 56.3% to 61.7%, if approved.[26]
In May 2009, following the completion of a $1 billion stock offering by MGM Mirage, Kerkorian and Tracinda lost their majority ownership of the gaming company, dropping from 53.8 percent to 39 percent and even after pledging to purchase 10 percent of the new stock offering they now remain minority owners.[27][28]
Auto industry
Kerkorian had an on-again/off-again relationship with the American auto industry. His involvement began in 1995 when with the assistance of retired Chrysler chairman and CEO
Kerkorian once owned 9.9 percent of General Motors (GM). According to press accounts from June 30, 2006, Kerkorian suggested that Renault acquired a 20 percent stake in GM to rescue GM from itself. A letter from Tracinda to Rick Wagoner was released to the public,[31] to pressure GM's executive hierarchy,[32] but talks failed.[33] On November 22, 2006, Kerkorian sold 14 million shares of his GM stake (it is speculated that this action was due to GM's rejection of Renault and Nissan's bids for stakes in the company as both of these bids were strongly supported by Kerkorian); the sale resulted in GM's share price falling 4.1% from its November 20 price, although it remained above $30/share.[34] The sale lowered Kerkorian's holding to around 7% of GM. On November 30, 2006, Tracinda said it had agreed to sell another 14 million shares of GM, cutting Kerkorian's stake to half of what it had been earlier that year.[35] By the end of November 2006, he had sold substantially all of his remaining GM shares.[36] After Kerkorian sold, GM lost more than 90% of its value, falling as low as $1/share by May 2009,[37] and filed bankruptcy on June 1, 2009.[38]
On April 5, 2007, Kirk Kerkorian made a $4.58 billion bid for the
Kerkorian began buying Ford Motor Company stock in April 2008, and spent about $1 billion to accumulate a 6% stake in the automaker. By October 2008, the investment had lost two-thirds of its value, and he began selling. Tracinda explained, "In light of current economic and market conditions, it sees unique value in the gaming and hospitality and oil and gas industries and has, therefore, decided to reallocate its resources and to focus on those industries."[39]
On October 21, Tracinda sold the 7.3 million Ford shares at an average price of $2.43, and said it planned to cut further its existing 6.1 percent stake in Ford, for a potential total loss of more than half a billion dollars.[40] Kerkorian sold his remaining stake in Ford on December 29, 2008.[41]
Wealth
Kerkorian's net worth in 2008 was $16.0 billion according to Forbes magazine, making him the 41st richest person in the world and the richest person in California at that time.[42] By 2011, Kerkorian was among those hardest hit by the stock market recession as his net worth tumbled to $3.2 billion. In 2013, he was listed as the 412th richest person with a net worth of $3.9 billion.[43]
Personal life
Kerkorian was an "intensely private person".[44] He almost never gave interviews and seldom appeared in public. "Kerkorian rarely attended board meetings and never gave speeches. He was shy, but was a tough negotiator. Those who knew him describe him not as a Hughesian hermit, but as a gentle, gracious, normal guy."[4]
Kerkorian was an avid
Kerkorian died in Beverly Hills, California, on June 15, 2015, nine days after his 98th birthday.[46][47] He is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California, near Los Angeles.[48]
Family
Kerkorian was married four times, first to Hilda Schmidt from 1942 to 1952.
Kerkorian's short-lived third marriage (1999) was to professional tennis player Lisa Bonder, 48 years his junior, which lasted only one month. The two had signed a prenuptial agreement before marrying. Kerkorian subsequently was involved in a breach of privacy suit filed against him by Steve Bing. Kerkorian claimed Bing was the father of Bonder's daughter, an allegation which was later confirmed by DNA paternity testing. On August 10, 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Kerkorian's attorneys were being sued by Bonder because of their connection to former high-profile private investigator Anthony Pellicano, who in 2008 began serving a fifteen-year prison sentence for running a wiretapping scheme. Bonder's attorney alleged that Kerkorian's lawyers hired Pellicano to wiretap telephone calls between him and Kerkorian's ex-wife in order to gain a tactical advantage in the divorce proceedings, an allegation that was later proven true.[49] Pellicano also took a strand of Bing's used dental floss (surreptitiously acquired from rubbish) and used it to prove that it was Bing and not Kerkorian who fathered Bonder's daughter. Attorney Terry Christensen was subsequently convicted of racketeering for hiring Pellicano to tap Bonder's phone, and received a three-year prison sentence that was confirmed on appeal.[50]
Kerkorian's short-lived fourth marriage (2014) was to Una Davis, born in 1966. The marriage lasted only 57 days and divorce proceedings were underway when Kerkorian died on June 15, 2015.[51]
The Lincy Foundation and philanthropic activities
Kerkorian was active in philanthropy through his charitable foundation, The Lincy Foundation, named after his daughters, Linda and Tracy. The foundation reportedly donated more than $1 billion,[52] though Kerkorian never allowed anything to be named in his honor. The foundation covered half of the cost of an 80-kilometer highway in Armenia. Over the next decade, Kerkorian financed more than $200 million of infrastructure projects in Armenia, including $60 million to the reconstruction of schools and streets[53] and the renovation of many museums, theaters and concert halls.
The Lincy Foundation was dissolved in 2011 after 22 years of charitable activities[54] after dispensing its last $200 million to University of California, Los Angeles. Half was earmarked for medical research, scholarships and other projects[55] while the other half was earmarked to create the "Dream Fund" for charitable causes around the country.[56]
Estate
Most of the $2 billion estate was left to charity, with a three-person committee left to distribute the funds within three years.[57] In December 2018, the estate settled with his 4th wife for $12.5 million, along with $10.0 million and $50.0 million for two philanthropic foundations, advised by his 4th wife.[51]
Awards and recognition
Armenia issued a Kirk Kerkorian stamp in 2017. The city of Gyumri unveiled a statue of Kerkorian in 2018.[58]
References
- ^ a b "'National Heroes' Aznavour and Kerkorian". Asbarez. May 27, 2004.
- ^ "The Hidden History of the Xanadu". University of Nevada, Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87417-817-3.
- ^ a b c d Evanslas, K. J. (September 12, 1999). "Kirk Kerkorian". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- ^ Palermo 1997, p. 159.
- ISBN 978-0-8157-0339-6.
- ^ "Time Magazine Lists Kerkorian in Top 12 List of Donors". Asbarez. July 20, 2000.
- ^ "President Kocharian, His Holiness Karekin I, His Holiness Aram I, Unite; $1 Million Raised for Humanitarian Aid to Armenia". Hye Sharzhoom. California State University, Fresno. September 26, 1998. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
- ISBN 9789993051299.
- ^ "Entrepreneurs: The High Ride on Free Time". Time. July 25, 1969.
- ^ "Los Angeles Business Journal Lists Richest Angelenos". Abclocal.go.com. May 14, 2006. Archived from the original on October 23, 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ "Reid Remarks On Kirk Kerkorian". reid.senate.gov. June 16, 2015. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
- ^ Torgerson, Dial "Kerkorian, An American Success Story" biography pub 1974
- ^ Historian Carl Christie cites estimates that about 28 Mosquitoes out of 1,000 were lost: Los Angeles Times obit
- ^ "Kirk Kerkorian". Online Nevada Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on May 14, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
- ^ Howard Stutz (June 16, 2015). "Billionaire Las Vegas mogul Kirk Kerkorian dies in Los Angeles". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- ^ Chung, Su Kim (August 18, 2009). "Water Resources: Special Collections". Library.unlv.edu. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ Tony Illia. "Nevada Swings Into the Seventies". Southwest Contractor. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011.
- ^ "MGM Mirage selling Treasure Island for $500M". Yahoo! News. December 15, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ "MGM/UA Under Kerkorian Meant 20 Years of Change". Los Angeles Times. March 8, 1990.
- ^ ISBN 0-520-23266-6
- ISBN 1-56074-024-8
- ISBN 0-688-08460-5
- ^ "Turner, United Artists Close Deal". Orlando Sentinel. United Press International. August 27, 1986. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0470572641.
- ^ Schneiderman, R.M. (November 22, 2006). "Kerkorian Sells GM, Buys MGM". Forbes. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
- Wall Street Journal)
- ^ MGM To Pay Back $825.6 Million In Debt Following Stock, Note Sales Archived May 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (CNN)
- ^ ISBN 978-1587656644.
- ^ "From the Archives: Interview with Kirk Kerkorian: A Born Gambler Rolls the Dice at 88 - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. June 9, 2005.
- ^ "Tracinda Corp, et al. – SC 13D/A – General Motors Corp – On 6/30/06 – EX-10.1". SEC Info. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ Koenig, Bill (June 30, 2006). "Kerkorian Seeks GM Partnership With Renault, Nissan (Update12)". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ Maynard, Micheline (October 4, 2006). "G.M. Ends Talks With Renault and Nissan". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
- ^ "Motors Liquidation Company: PINK:MTLQQ historical prices". Google Finance. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ Isidore, Chris (November 30, 2006). "Kerkorian dumps more GM shares". CNN. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
- ^ Green, Jeff (November 30, 2006). "Kerkorian Sells His Remaining GM Holdings, Person Familiar Says". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ "GEO Minerals Ltd.: CVE:GM quotes & news – Google Finance". Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ Taylor, A (June 3, 2009). "MotorWorld: Inside GM's bankruptcy filing". CNN. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
- ^ Vlasic, Bill (October 22, 2008). "Investor Sheds a Major Stake in Ford". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
- ^ "Kerkorian taking huge loss in Ford stake – Business – Autos". NBC News. October 22, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ "Kerkorian Sells the Rest of His Ford Shares". The New York Times. December 29, 2008.
- ^ "Bill Gates America's richest for 14th year in a row". Reuters. September 20, 2007.
- ^ Kirk Kerkorian – Forbes, Forbes.com. Retrieved January 24, 2014
- ^ Palermo 1997, p. 160.
- ^ David Streitfeld Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2005, p. A-1.
- ^ Ho, Sally; Rothwell, Steve (June 16, 2015). "Kirk Kerkorian, billionaire and Las Vegas casino mogul, dies". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ Kandell, Jonathan (June 16, 2015). "Kirk Kerkorian, Billionaire Investor in Film Studios and Casinos, Dies at 98". New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ Akopyan, Manouk (March 6, 2019). "My Pilgrimage to Kirk Kerkorian's Final Resting Place". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
- ^ "Lawyer Files Suit Over Alleged Wiretapping". Los Angeles Times. August 10, 2006.
- ^ Johnson, Ted (August 25, 2015). "Anthony Pellicano Faces Re-Sentencing After Court Overturns Convictions". Variety. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
- ^ a b "Kirk Kerkorian's Estate Settles with Widow for $12.5M". Casino.org. December 15, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ ռ/կ, Ազատություն (May 20, 2005). "Kerkorian Handed Armenia's Top State Honor". «Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» Ռադիոկայան. Armenialiberty.org. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ Danielyan, Emil (June 16, 2015). "U.S.-Armenian Tycoon Kirk Kerkorian Dies". «Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան.
- ^ "Kirk Kerkorian is not offended by Armenia". ArmeniaDiaspora.com. September 14, 2011. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ "Kirk Kerkorian dies at 98; shook up the car, movie and casino industries". Los Angeles Times. June 16, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ UCLA receives $200 million gift to create unique philanthropic fund Archived February 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, UCLA, February 14, 2011
- ^ "The Battle Over MGM Mogul Kirk Kerkorian's $2 Billion Estate". The Hollywood Reporter. February 14, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- ^ Կաղզվանցյան, Սաթենիկ (June 24, 2018). "«Սա իմ շնորհակալությունն է բարերարին»․ Գյումրիում տեղադրվեց Քըրք Քըրքորյանի արձանը". «Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան (in Armenian). Retrieved June 14, 2023.
Bibliography
- Palermo, Dave (1997). "Kirk Kerkorian: The Reticent Billionaire". In Sheehan, Jack (ed.). The Players: The Men who Made Las Vegas. University of Nevada Press. pp. 159–166. ISBN 978-0874173062.
- Rempel, William C. (2018). The gambler : how penniless dropout Kirk Kerkorian became the greatest deal maker in capitalist history. New York, NY, USA: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062456779.
Further reading
- Torgerson, Dial (1974). Kerkorian: An American Success Story. Dial Press. ISBN 978-0803744219.
- Binkley, Christina (2008). Winner Takes All: Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Gary Loveman, and the Race to Own Las Vegas. Hyperion. ISBN 978-1401302368.