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Kirk Kerkorian, billionaire Las Vegas mogul, dies at 98 | Kirk Kerkorian, billionaire Las Vegas mogul, dies at 98 |
(35 minutes later) | |
Kirk Kerkorian, the son of Armenian immigrants who became a billionaire Las Vegas mogul, has died at the age of 98. | Kirk Kerkorian, the son of Armenian immigrants who became a billionaire Las Vegas mogul, has died at the age of 98. |
The veteran US businessman was the largest shareholder in MGM Resorts International, which owns the MGM Grand and Bellagio hotels in Las Vegas. | The veteran US businessman was the largest shareholder in MGM Resorts International, which owns the MGM Grand and Bellagio hotels in Las Vegas. |
He was well known for buying and then selling the MGM film studio three times, making a profit each time. | He was well known for buying and then selling the MGM film studio three times, making a profit each time. |
Kerkorian was reported to have died on Monday night in Los Angeles but no cause of death has been given. | Kerkorian was reported to have died on Monday night in Los Angeles but no cause of death has been given. |
"Mr Kerkorian was a quiet but powerful force behind the transformation of the Las Vegas Strip into one of the world's most popular tourist destinations," MGM Resorts said in a statement. | |
A school dropout at 16, Kerkorian became a boxer and later flew dangerous missions delivering warplanes from Canada to Britain during World War Two. | |
He carried on flying after the war and opened a charter flight business ferrying gamblers who wanted to get from Los Angeles to Las Vegas more quickly than by driving. | |
He began buying property in Las Vegas in 1962 after selling his charter airline, which he later re-purchased. | |
"When you're a self-made man you start very early in life," he once told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "You get a drive that's a little different, maybe a little stronger, than somebody who inherited." | |
He was also a player in the automobile industry, losing a battle for control of Chrysler in the 1990s before taking stakes in General Motors and Ford in the 2000s. | |
In May this year, Forbes magazine estimated Kerkorian's wealth at $4.2bn (£2.7bn) after taking a hit on his investments during the financial crisis in 2008, when the magazine said he was worth $16bn. | |
"MGM Resorts and our family of 62,000 employees are honouring the memory of a great man, a great business leader, a great community leader, an innovator, and one of our country's greatest generation," MGM chief executive Jim Murren said in a statement. |
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