Phrygian Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 Kerkorian takes casino crown By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY 6/17/2004 Las Vegas has always had its share of dreamers and big shots, but never one quite like Kirk Kerkorian. As majority stockholder of MGM Mirage, he would have had every reason to publicly join in the hoopla Wednesday about Mandalay Resort Group's acceptance of MGM's $4.8 billion cash buyout offer. The deal makes Kerkorian the mogul among moguls: He'll control more Las Vegas hotel rooms than Howard Hughes or Stephen Wynn could ever assemble. If the deal passes regulatory muster, MGM will become the world's largest gaming company. It will lord over 11 casino resorts on the famed Las Vegas Strip alone, including jewels such as Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and Luxor along the hottest stretch. Kerkorian's empire would extend to 17 other gambling halls in Nevada, elsewhere in the USA and Australia. "This is the king of all deals in the gaming business," says Rod Petrik, gaming analyst with Legg Mason. "He will be the No. 1 operator on the Strip, with the best properties." Even in triumph, Kerkorian, 87, characteristically stayed out of the limelight. At an age when most people are retired, Kerkorian struck his biggest casino deal and declined to be interviewed about it. That's in contrast to the flamboyance that has marked Strip tycoons such as gangster Bugsy Siegel, who opened the Flamingo as the Strip's first flashy casino in 1946. Mandalay's board approved the deal Tuesday night amid antitrust concerns. MGM Mirage CEO Terrence Lanni said in an interview that his board is "very comfortable" with lawyers' assurances that antitrust issues won't be a problem. MGM is paying $71 a share cash, in a deal that, along with convertible securities and assumption of debt, is valued at $7.9 billion. Wednesday, MGM shares fell 62 cents to $48.88. Mandalay dropped 8 cents to $67.80, short of the $71 acquisition price, in recognition of the year it could take for the deal to close and the chance that regulators could interfere. Besides the potential to own half the 75,000 rooms on the Strip, MGM would acquire about 2 million square feet of meeting space in the nation's largest convention city. MGM would also become better positioned at the high and low ends of the gambling market, better able to attract $500-a-hand blackjack players and nickel-slot aficionados alike. That helps spread the risk as Wynn is about to open a megaresort on the north end of the Strip next year, which could siphon the most profitable high rollers. "I'm very excited," Lanni says. Mandalay "has wonderful properties and great brands." The consolidation comes as greater Las Vegas, one of the nation's fastest-growing metropolises, continues to attract new visitors. The Mandalay acquisition is Kerkorian's second big casino deal in four years. In 2000, MGM acquired Wynn's Mirage Resorts for $4.4 billion. Then, as now, Kerkorian stayed behind the curtain. He is publicity-shy but not reclusive. The Southern Californian plays a mean game of tennis, buys a ticket and stands in line for movies and is known to frequent plush but unflashy restaurants. Like Howard Hughes, he's a former pilot who dallied in the movie business. Unlike Hughes, he hasn't locked himself in a hotel casino penthouse, grown a long scraggily beard and shunned all but his closest cronies. Chasing deals For him, the elixir of life is love of the deal. The bigger, the better. Among the builders of modern Las Vegas, "Kerkorian is one of the most enigmatic and interesting figures," says Hal Rothman, a history professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. "He is uncanny in his ability to read the market." While others ignored Las Vegas as a garish, sweltering pool of excess, Kerkorian saw how both the masses and the elite would come to embrace it. In the course of amassing a $6 billion empire, Kerkorian has constructed the world's largest hotel on three occasions: the International, which later became the Las Vegas Hilton, in 1969; the MGM Grand, now Bally's, in 1973; and the present MGM Grand in 1993. "He's the smartest man I know," says Alex Yemenidjian, CEO of Kerkorian film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. "It takes three minutes for him to figure out something that takes me three days." Yemenidjian, who speaks to Kerkorian by phone daily and plays tennis with him most weekends, adds: "I don't know anybody else who has created more jobs in Las Vegas or been more charitable." Kerkorian, No. 65 on Forbes list of billionaires, has, without fanfare, donated at least $150 million, often to his ancestral homeland of Armenia. Through his Tracinda holding company, named after his daughters Tracy and Linda, he owns 57% of MGM Mirage. He also has large holdings in DaimlerChrysler, which he is suing for $1 billion for allegedly defrauding investors in the 1998 merger between the giant automakers. A verdict is expected in the fall. He keeps residences in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He's involved in his businesses but doesn't dabble in details. He's "a very big-picture person," Lanni says. Kerkorian came to know Las Vegas the way most first see it: as a gambler. The Fresno-born son of an Armenian immigrant, Kerkorian was a scrappy boxer as a youth and later ferried bombers from Canada to England during World War II for the Royal Air Force. In 1947, the year Siegel was shot and the Flamingo started showing a profit, Kerkorian paid $60,000 for a plane to shuttle movie stars and high rollers. He built it into a $104 million charter business that was sold to Transamerica in 1966. He used the profits to build the International and buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio. He would buy and sell it three times. As Kerkorian was about to emerge as a force in Las Vegas, Hughes was king. Hughes bought some of the biggest casinos of the time, including the Desert Inn, Sands, Landmark, Frontier, Silver Slipper and the Castaways. All were puny compared with the room counts of today's giants. Fire dealt setback Kerkorian had setbacks. The hotel then called the MGM Grand, predecessor to the one by that name further south on the Strip, caught fire in 1980, and 81 people died. "After the fire, he ... stayed underground," says John L. Smith, who has written several books about Las Vegas and is a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "It is something that bothered him for a long time." Kerkorian eventually re-emerged. His new MGM Grand remains Las Vegas' largest resort, with 5,034 rooms. It was built with a concert hall and an amusement park for the town's family-friendly era. When adding Wynn's former Mirage Resorts properties, including Bellagio, Mirage and Treasure Island, MGM made sure the properties kept their own personalities. In Mandalay Bay, for instance, Kerkorian is getting a property known for its hipness. Kerkorian's power play comes as Sin City is enjoying a resurgence. It had more than 12.5 million visitors through April this year, up 7.5% from the first four months of 2003, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority says. "If there's any place to double down, Nevada is the place to do it," says analyst Eric Hausler at Susquehanna Financial. The Mandalay purchase, like any gamble, has risks. Riverboat and American Indian gaming are growing, particularly in the key California market that feeds gamblers to Las Vegas by bus and car. The number of people arriving by air rose about 15% in the first four months of 2004, vs. the same period in 2003. Another terrorist attack could leave MGM/Mandalay dangerously exposed if there's a plunge in visitors. "This will be a huge concentration of properties betting on Las Vegas," says Dan Ahrens, portfolio manager of the Vice fund, which is 28% invested in gaming stocks. Few would bet against Kerkorian even if he's out of sight. "Kerkorian is still at the helm here," says author Smith. "The lion never sleeps." Contributing: Matt Krantz, Thor Valdmanis and Darryl Haralson http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2004...mgm-cover_x.htm God bless Kirk Kerkorian! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TS133T Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 Кто знает контакт Керкоряна? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LeoMins Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 Попробуй через Lincy Fund Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TS133T Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 Попробуй через Lincy Fund Спасибо Лео, посмотрим. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*Sashik* Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 Кстати этот Alex Yemenidjian был любовником Мадонны Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vigen Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 Кстати этот Alex Yemenidjian был любовником Мадонны Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*Sashik* Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 Что , нормальных девушек вокруг небыло ? За что ты так о ней ? Если бы это была бритни Спиррс то я втройне :puke: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*Sashik* Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 Ну она же не жена его в конце концов ! Выпил наверно Алекс коньячку армянского, скучно стало, а тут Мадонна в отеле разместилась ........ ну дальше сами понимаете.... :lol: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JazzVaz Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 Axper между прочим у Бритни фигура просто бомба!! Любовником быть ето севсем не . Я лично не то что с удовольствием, а в словах не передать с какой радостью с Бринти в любовь поиграл бы . А детей с ней крестить некто не обязиватет.. Лудше 100 раз Бринти чем Мадонна Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*Sashik* Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 Axper между прочим у Бритни фигура просто бомба!! Любовником быть ето севсем не . Я лично не то что с удовольствием, а в словах не передать с какой радостью с Бринти в любовь поиграл бы . А детей с ней крестить некто не обязиватет.. Лудше 100 раз Бринти чем Мадонна Ну, о вкусах не спорят ! Не помню, это ты говорил что Стоцкую нельзя назвать уродиной ? А Бритни я терпеть не могу, типично свинячья-американская рожа со вставными зубами ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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