KIRK KERKORIAN

Born in 1917 in Fresno, California to Armenian immigrant parents. Dropped out of school in 8th grade.

Became an amateur boxer — fought 33 bouts as a welterweight. Then learned to fly, and during World War II delivered RAF bombers across the Atlantic — one of the most dangerous jobs in aviation.

After the war, he bought surplus military aircraft, started an air charter company, and used the profits to buy land in Las Vegas. In 1969, he built the International Hotel — at the time the largest hotel in the world.

Elvis Presley's legendary Vegas residency was at Kerkorian's hotel.

He bought MGM Studios in 1969, sold it, bought it again in 1996, sold it again, and bought it a third time in 2005. Each time he made money.

He built CityCenter — the largest privately financed construction project in U.S. history — on the Las Vegas Strip.

MGM Resorts International (formerly MGM Mirage) is the casino and hospitality empire — Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Aria, and a dozen other Strip properties. Kerkorian built or acquired most of them.

MGM Studios (now Amazon MGM Studios) — the film studio behind James Bond, Rocky, and thousands of other films. He bought and sold it three times across four decades.

He was also a major investor in Chrysler/DaimlerChrysler and Ford. He tried hostile takeover bids for Chrysler twice (in the 1990s and 2000s) and took large activist positions in both automakers.

He also made significant investments in Delta Air Lines and other companies.

Kerkorian was a pure dealmaker. He bought assets, improved them, sold them at a profit, and used the proceeds to buy bigger assets.

His approach was: find an undervalued asset, buy it with as much leverage as possible, create value through development or restructuring, and sell at the right time.

He had an extraordinary sense of timing. He sold MGM Studios at peaks and bought it back at troughs — repeatedly.

He built hotels at the bottom of construction cost cycles and opened them into recovery periods.

He made decisions fast and without committees. His deals were often handshake-first, paperwork-second.

Building the MGM Grand Hotel and CityCenter. The MGM Grand (opened 1993) was the largest hotel in the world with 5,044 rooms.

CityCenter (opened 2009) was a $9.2 billion mixed-use development that created a city within a city on the Strip. Both were considered insane bets when announced and became landmarks that defined Las Vegas.

CityCenter's timing. The $9.2 billion project opened in December 2009 — during the worst recession since the Depression.

Las Vegas visitor numbers were down. Construction costs had exploded.

The project nearly bankrupted MGM Resorts. Kerkorian had to bring in Dubai World as a partner and restructure the debt.

He survived, but CityCenter's early years were painful.

Kerkorian believed in Las Vegas when nobody else did. He saw a desert railroad town and envisioned the entertainment capital of the world.

He bet everything on that vision — over and over — for six decades.

His dealmaking philosophy was simple: buy low, add value, sell high. Never get emotionally attached to an asset.

MGM Studios wasn't a sentimental possession — it was inventory to be traded.

He also believed in giving back. He donated over $1 billion in his lifetime, primarily to Armenian causes (he was deeply connected to his Armenian heritage) and medical research.

Married twice, both ending in divorce. Had two daughters: Tracy and Linda.

He was extremely private and rarely discussed family life. He died in June 2015 at age 98 in Beverly Hills.

He worked on deals into his final years.

The Armenian community considers him one of its greatest benefactors. His donations to Armenia and Armenian causes totaled hundreds of millions.

Dropped out of school in 8th grade in Fresno, California. No formal education beyond that.

Self-taught in business, aviation, and finance. He learned to fly at the Happy Bottom Riding Club — the same airfield where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier.

Everything after that was self-made.