#Michigan hotel mogul movie#

Yet, even as a studio chief, he would stand in line to buy movie tickets at a theatre with everyone else rather than attend private screenings. Kerkorian bought and sold the venerable MGM film studio three times, acquired the United Artists studio and tried to buy Columbia Pictures. He also was instrumental in turning Las Vegas into a family destination rather than merely a naughty pleasure spot for adults. Kerkorian owned some of the biggest and best-known Las Vegas hotels and casinos, at one time owning more than half the hotel rooms on the famous Las Vegas Strip. On his way to becoming a casino magnate, he befriended “Rat Pack” stars Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and other Las Vegas headliners. Three different times - in 1969, 19 - Kerkorian built the world’s biggest hotel in Las Vegas, the desert gambling capital where he first made his fortune in the 1950s and 1960s. Last month, Forbes magazine estimated Kerkorian’s wealth at $4.2 billion after he took a hit on his investments in 2008, when the magazine said he was worth $16 billion. He would become an enduring American business heavyweight with a knack for placing winning bets in the corporate world. In his youth he was known as “Rifle Right Kerkorian” for his punching power as a small-time boxer. Kerkorian had little formal education and dropped out of school at age 16. He passed away after a brief illness, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Kerkorian, who founded MGM Resorts International MGM.N and was its largest shareholder, died in Los Angeles on Monday night, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Jerry York, adviser to billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, attends the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit, Michigan September 15, 2008.