'Unpretentious' Vegas Mogul Kirk Kerkorian Dead at 98

Billionaire bought, sold MGM 3 times
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 16, 2015 1:19 PM CDT
'Unpretentious' Vegas Mogul Kirk Kerkorian Dead at 98
In this 2000 file photo, billionaire Las Vegas mogul Kirk Kerkorian, an eighth-grade dropout who built Las Vegas' biggest hotels, died Monday, June 15, 2015. He was 98.   (AP Photo/Rogelio Solis, File)

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, an eighth-grade dropout who built Las Vegas' biggest hotels, tried to take over Chrysler, and bought and sold MGM at a profit three times, died last night at age 98. The reserved, unpretentious Kerkorian spent much of his life trying to stay out of the spotlight and rarely gave interviews. He called himself a "small-town boy who got lucky." He shunned glitzy Hollywood parties and movie premieres in favor of making deals. Rather than arrive at an event by limousine, he often drove himself in a Mercury station wagon. "He was a very private guy who shunned the limelight, both in a business way and from a charitable standpoint," said Patty Glaser, his attorney of four decades.

After making his first fortune ferrying gamblers to Las Vegas with Trans International Airlines, he built the 30-story, 1,568-room International Hotel, the world's largest hotel when it opened in the late 1960s. He brought Elvis Presley to perform there in 1969 as the rock legend relaunched his live performance career. When Kerkorian opened the first MGM Grand in Las Vegas in the 1970s, it was again the world's largest hotel, containing more than 2,000 rooms and a 1,200-seat showroom. Years later, he would build another MGM Grand, this one with more than 5,000 rooms—again, the world's largest. "He built the rooms and attractions to bring an incredibly broad base of affluent people to Las Vegas," Hal Rothman, a history professor at the University of Nevada, once said. (More Kirk Kerkorian stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X