Kirk Kerkorian: The Man And The Myth
Image source: Armenak Margarian, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Kirk Kerkorian Story
So, just who was Kirk Kerkorian? Today, most of the casinos you can find in Las Vegas, are all owned by just a tiny number of corporations. These include Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts, and Boyd Gaming. There’s also a revolving door of management including those up at the top, the company presidents. But going back a few years, and during Sin City’s glory days, you find that many of these casinos and corporations were built almost single-handedly by enterprising men of extraordinary strong personalities.
Among there you could find Bugsy Siegal, Howard Hughs, Frank Rosenthal, and many others. But for today’s article, we’re going to have a look at another giant within the industry, Kirk Kerkorian. He’s a real legend in Vegas, having purchased the city’s biggest venues, not just once, but three times.
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Kirk Kerkorian: A Brief Background and Biography
He was born as Kerkor Kerkorian in 1917 to Armenian immigrants. Later he would change his name to sound more American to “Kirk”. When he was in 8th grade, he took flying lessons and used these skills to assist the British Royal Air Force to bring planes from the US to the UK during World War II. Once the war was over he headed out to Hawaii. There he found hundreds of decommissioned aircraft. They were all being sold by the US Air Force at a rock bottom cheap prices. But there was a basic problem. The planes had been used in the Pacific rim. But were lacking fuel tanks large enough for them to be flown to California. But for Kerkorian, this was to prove one of his best jackpot deals.
The Beginnings Of An Airline
Not put off but something that was a simple matter of some re-engineering, Kerkorian took one of those planes and made the conversion before embarking on his first flight from Hawaii to California. He almost crashed the plane into the sea. He ended up having to throw everything that wasn’t tied down into the ocean to stop ditching the plane himself. Nevertheless, he persevered and set up a private charter company that specialized in taking high rollers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Clients included Bugsy Seigal who was a mob hitman who took over the Flamingo Casino Resort.
During down-time when he was waiting for his customers at the casinos, Kirk took to visiting all the hot-spots in Vegas, to the point that he was a well know regular face around town. In truth, he wasn’t a great gambler and sowed little interest in gambling at a pass time. But he maintained a cool and calm attitude around the casino games tables at many different establishments. He liked mixing with people and was quick to make friends.
Kirk Kerkorian: Casino Land Swaps and Lease Agreements
The charter business grew to become Tran International Airlines. In 1968, Kerkorian decided to change direction and was able to sell the airline for $104 million, which would be equivalent to $775 million at today’s exchange rate. This instantly made him one of the wealthiest men in the US. When later interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, he stated that he had never planned to be rich or amassing such a large fortune. Still, as he now lived in Las Vegas, he set about finding business there. Six years before the sale of his airline company, he started making what were to later prove, some very wise investments in Las Vegas.
In 1962, he paid around $1 million for 80 acres of land that happened to be situated near the Las Vegas Strip. In those days, these large empty parcels of land were technically blocked off from being on the strip itself by smaller parcels that stood in their way. This didn’t stop Kerkorian. Over the next couple of months managed to barter, trade and swap until he actually owned these small obstructing parcels and thus had a clear run at Las Vegas Boulevard. Of course, this increased the value of the land in question by a huge amount.
Plot After Plot
But Kerkorian didn’t sell, rather he flipped it to the Atlanta real estate mogul Jay Sarno. Sarno immediately set about building Caesars Palace on the leased land. Once the casino opened in 1966, Kerkorian was able to enjoy one of the best jackpot offers of a 15% slice of the casino’s huge profits. A couple of years later, he ended up selling the plot to Sarno for a cool $9 million profit. He then bought another 80-acre plot for $5 million which was situated on Paradise Road. Though this piece of land was set apart from the Strip, Kerkorian gambled that gamblers would still need a hotel and gambling resort. Costing over $50 million, this over the top and extravagant 30 story tower boasted of over 1,500 rooms. There were also swimming pools, a golf course, and luxury suites.
Kirk Kerkorian: Owning MGM Film Studios
In time the International Hotel was renamed the Las Vegas Hilton. Today, it’s known as the Westgate Las Vegas. When it was built it was the largest hotel in the world. The same year the hotel opened, in 1969, Kerkorian bought the MGM film studios. And in 1973, he would open the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. Yet another massive resort, it cost over $100 million in construction costs. There were over 2,000 rooms that were spread out over 2.5 million feet of floor space. For Kerkorian, this was the second time he could boast of having the largest casino in the world. Today the casino is called Bally’s Las Vegas.
A short while after opening, a devastating fire killed 87 people. This was a huge stain on the MGM name from which it couldn’t recover. Kerkorian sold his interest in the hotel eight months later it reopened after Bally International paid $550 million for the rights. By renaming the hotel Bally’s they hoped to give the venue a new start.7
Buying Out Howard Huges
In the 1980s the mogul Howard Hughes overstretched himself in Las Vegas. This allowed Kerkorian to purchase Hughes’s casino assets at a knockdown price. To this end, Kerkorian purchased the Sands (which was eventually knocked down to make way for the Venetian). Then later the Desert Inn (which was later demolished to make way for both the Wynn and the Encore). Having lost and then regained the rights to the MGM name, in 1993, Kerkorian set about building the MGM Grand. But on a much, much bigger scale. He invested over $1 billion in the project. The spectacular green resort was modeled on the “Emerald City” seen in the movie, The Wizard of Oz. Boasting a bonkers 5,005 rooms, it once again placed Kerkorian as the owner of the world’s biggest hotel for the third time.
Kirk Kerkorian: The MGM Grand Hotel And Casino
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino have stood as the centerpiece of the Las Vegas Strip since its inception. Hosting all sorts of major sporting events including world boxing championships along with its world-class gambling amenities. it’s considered to be one of the best casinos to win the jackpot. Over the years, thousands of tourists have taken a photo in front of the MGM Grand with its signature “Golden Lion’s Mouth” entrance. Funnily enough, this entrance was shuttered in 1998 due to the fact that Asian gamblers considered walking through the mouth as an omen of bad luck.
Having already achieved so much, Kerkorian wasn’t content to just sit on his hands. In 2000, at 83 years of age, he managed to outmaneuver another billionaire, Steve Wynn. He forced through the merger of MGM Grand and Mirage Resorts. This created the giant company of MGM Resorts International. The new company now controls many of Las Vegas’s most famous casinos, including The Bellagio, The Mirage, Treasure Island, The Mandalay Bay, The Luxor, The Excalibur, New York-New York, and The Park MGM.
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