Kerkorian to wager it all on Las Vegas after MGM sale
by Veronique Dupont

Agence France Presse — English
September 14, 2004 Tuesday 9:31 PM GMT

NEW YORK Sept 14 — Kirk Kerkorian, the 87-year-old multi-billionaire,
has turned his back on Hollywood so he can concentrate on Las Vegas,
which he helped turn into the world’s gaming capital.

By agreeing to sell the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studios for nearly
five billion dollars to a group led by Sony Corp, Kerkorian is ending
a tumultuous link with the legendary film studio that he first bought
in 1969.

Kerkorian, who had an 89 percent stake, has bought and sold the
studios three times since.

MGM has won about 200 Oscars during its 80 years but is now several
decades past its prime in the eyes of most Hollywood observers.

Kerkorian is partly to blame for this, they say, by selling off many
of its prized catalogue assets. But there are still about 4,100 films
in the MGM vault, including the James Bond and Pink Panther series.

Kerkorian, the son of Armenian immigrants who was born in the
Californian town of Fresno on June 6, 1917, could almost be the
subject of a film in his own right.

He started earning money selling newspapers at the age of nine,
left school at 13 to become a boxer and then a professional pilot.
Kerkorian flew for the Royal Air Force in World War II.

After the war, he built a private airline while making his main
fortune from property speculation.

In 1962, Kerkorian bought about 80 acres (32 hectares) of land in
Las Vegas, in the Nevada desert, for less than one million dollars.

He built three hotel-casinos, which were then the biggest in the
world and helped to make Las Vegas a worldwide name that attracted
not just hardcore gamblers, but also businessmen and families.

Disaster struck in November 1980, when the MGM Grand Hotel burned
down killing more than 85 people and injuring hundreds.

The site was sold and a new MGM Grand was built on another part of
the Las Vegas Strip, which has become one of the main venues for top
boxing bouts. The MGM-Mirage group now owns 10 establishments in the
city including the prestigious Bellagio.

Kerkorian, who is known as the “Quiet Lion” because of his low key
image, now has one of the top 50 fortunes in the United States,
estimated at more than 3.4 billion dollars.

Married three times, his most recent divorce made international
headlines.

His marriage to Lisa Bonder lasted one month. She sued him seeking
a monthly 320,000 dollar payment for a daughter that he says —
DNA samples in support — is not his.

Kerkorian said he had been “set up” by his ex-wife.

The couple had been together for 10 years. Kerkorian said Lisa put
pressure on him to marry her and that he agreed to a brief marriage
on condition she agree to divorce after one month. He said she then
changed her mind and resisted the divorce. The US media feasted on
the court case.

Kerkorian has publicly backed Democratic challenger John Kerry for
the November 2 presidential election. And despite his age shows no
sign of seeking to retire.

Kerkorian wants to profit the maximum from the gambling craze that
has swept the United States over the past two years and lifted Las
Vegas profits to new heights.

Three months ago he bought the Mandalay Resort hotels and casinos
group, another cornerstone of the Strip, for 7.9 billion dollars.

If the purchase is approved by US authorities, Kerkorian will head
the world’s second biggest gaming group, controlling much of the land
around Las Vegas that can still be built on.