Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Kirk Kerkorian's slow fade from Vegas

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Kirk Kerkorian's slow fade from Vegas

    LA Observed
    Aug 26 2011


    Kirk Kerkorian's slow fade from Vegas


    Mark Lacter - August 26 2011 12:02 PM


    There's a great story (maybe apocryphal) about how the L.A.
    billionaire wound up with the property that became the site of the Las
    Vegas Hilton. Back in the 1960s, so the tale goes, Kerkorian and real
    estate mogul Marvin Kratter were flying in their respective private
    planes somewhere over the Strip when Kerkorian spotted a big chunk of
    land behind the Sahara Hotel. "Nice piece of land," Kirk radioed
    Kratter. "How much?" The two guys supposedly did the deal right then,
    or at least that's how Vegas columnist Phil Hevener heard it. Point
    is, there was a time when Kerkorian used Vegas as his personal craps
    table. Now, he seems to be cashing out. The L.A. billionaire sold off
    20 million shares of MGM Resorts stock for around $215 million,
    lowering his stake in the resort and casino company to 22 percent from
    27 percent. Thing is, he held a majority stake only a few years ago
    when his investment firm sold off much of its holding as part of a
    stock offering. From Bloomberg:

    Kerkorian is "raising cash to have fun with it," MGM Resorts Chairman
    and Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren said in a phone interview. "His
    two passions in life are philanthropy and investing, and you have to
    have cash to invest cash."
    Business in Vegas has held up reasonably well, but Motley Fool's
    Travis Hoium is not encouraged:

    If the U.S. economy does take a turn for the worse, as the market
    fears, MGM will be the hardest hit. Most of MGM's revenue still comes
    from Las Vegas, and if we remember what happened to gaming, room
    rates, and earnings during the last recession, the damage wouldn't be
    pretty.

    http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2011/08/kirk_kerkorians_slow.php




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X