Kerkor Kerkorian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գրիգորեան; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of
Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in
Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian was one of the important figures in the shaping of
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...
and, with architect
Martin Stern Jr.,
is described as the "father of the
mega-resort
A resort hotel is a hotel which often contains full-sized luxury facilities with full-service accommodations and amenities. These hotels may attract both business conferences and vacationing tourists and offer more than a convenient place to stay ...
".
He built the world's largest hotel in Las Vegas three times:
the
International Hotel (opened in 1969), the
MGM Grand Hotel (1973) and the
MGM Grand (1993). He purchased the
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
movie studio in 1969.
Of Armenian descent, Kerkorian provided over $1 billion for charity in
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
through his Lincy Foundation, which was established in 1989 and particularly focused on helping to rebuild northern Armenia after the
1988 earthquake. Kerkorian also provided money to ensure that a film based on the history of the
Armenian genocide would be made. The resulting film, called ''
The Promise'',
premiered in April 2017 in the United States. In 2000 ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine named him the 10th largest donor in the US. Kerkorian was declared an
honorary citizen of Armenia. He was bestowed the title of
National Hero of Armenia, the highest state award.
Early years
Kerkor Kerkorian was born on June 6, 1917 in
Fresno, California, to
Armenian parents who escaped present-day
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
via cattle boat during the
Armenian Genocide. Armenian was his first language and he "didn't learn the English language until he hit the streets."
His family moved to Los Angeles following the
depression of 1920–21
Depression may refer to:
Mental health
* Depression (mood), a state of low mood and aversion to activity
* Mood disorders characterized by depression are commonly referred to as simply ''depression'', including:
** Dysthymia, also known as pe ...
.
Dropping out of school in eighth grade, Kerkorian became a fairly skilled
amateur boxer under the tutelage of his older brother Nish Kerkorian, fighting under the name "Rifle Right Kerkorian" to win the Pacific amateur welterweight championship. Kirk Kerkorian also had an older sister, Rose Kerkorian.
Business career
Aviation
Sensing the onset of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, and not wanting to join the
infantry, Kerkorian learned to fly at the
Happy Bottom Riding Club in the
Mojave Desert—adjacent to the
United States Army Air Corps's Muroc Field, now
Edwards Air Force Base. In exchange for flying lessons from pioneer aviator
Pancho Barnes, he agreed to milk and look after her cattle.
On gaining his commercial pilot's certificate in six months, Kerkorian learned that the British
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
was ferrying Canadian-built
de Havilland Mosquitos over the
North Atlantic to
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. The Mosquito's fuel tank carried enough fuel for , while the trip directly was . Rather than take the safer
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
–
Labrador–
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...
–
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
–Scotland route (although, going further north could mean the wings icing, and the plane crashing), Kerkorian preferred the direct "Iceland Wave" route, which blew the planes at jet-speed to Europe—but it wasn't constant, and could mean ditching. The fee was $1,000 per flight. Although accounts claim the risk was that one in four planes failed to make it, the actual rate was closer to one in ''forty''. In May 1944, Kerkorian and his
Wing Commander John de Lacy Wooldridge rode the wave and broke the old crossing record. Wooldridge got to Scotland in six hours, 46 minutes; Kerkorian, in seven hours, nine minutes. In two and a half years with
RAF Ferry Command, Kerkorian delivered 33 planes, logged thousands of hours, traveled to four continents and flew his first four-engine plane.
After the war, having saved most of his wages, Kerkorian spent $5,000 on a
Cessna. He worked as a general aviation pilot and made his first visit to Las Vegas in 1944. After spending much time in Las Vegas during the 1940s, Kerkorian quit gambling and in 1947 paid $60,000 for
Trans International Airlines, which was a small air-charter service that flew gamblers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. He then bid on some war surplus bombers, using money on loan from
Seagram's
The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...
. Gasoline, and especially airplane fuel, was in short supply at the time, so he sold the fuel from the planes' tanks, paid off his loan, and still had the airplanes. He operated the airline until 1968 when he sold it for $104 million to the
Transamerica Corporation.
Las Vegas
In 1962, Kerkorian bought in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...
, across the
Las Vegas Strip from the Flamingo, for $960,000. This purchase led to the building of
Caesars Palace, which rented the land from Kerkorian; the rent and eventual sale of the land to Caesars in 1968 made Kerkorian $9 million ($70 million today).
In 1967, he bought of land on Paradise Road in Las Vegas for $5 million and, with architect
Martin Stern Jr., built the
International Hotel, which at the time was the largest hotel in the world; The first two performers to appear at the hotel's enormous ''Showroom Internationale'' were
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
and
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
. Presley brought in some 4,200 customers (and potential gamblers), every day, for 30 days straight, breaking in the process all attendance records in the county's history. Kerkorian's International Leisure also bought the
Flamingo Hotel; eventually, both hotels were sold to the
Hilton Hotels Corporation and were renamed the
Las Vegas Hilton and the
Flamingo Hilton
Flamingo Las Vegas (formerly The Fabulous Flamingo and Flamingo Hilton Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment.
The property includes a casino along with 3,4 ...
, respectively.
After he purchased the
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
movie studio in 1969, Kerkorian (with architect Martin Stern Jr.) opened the original
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino
Horseshoe Las Vegas (formerly MGM Grand Hotel and Casino and Bally's Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. It originally opened as the MGM Grand Hotel on De ...
, larger than the
Empire State Building and the largest hotel in the world at the time it was finished. On November 21, 1980, the original
MGM Grand burned in a fire that was one of the worst disasters in Las Vegas history. The Clark County Fire Department reported 84 deaths in the fire; there were 87 deaths total, including three which occurred later as a result of injuries sustained in the fire. After only 8 months the MGM Grand reopened. Almost three months after the MGM fire, the
Las Vegas Hilton caught fire, killing eight people.
In 1986, Kerkorian sold the MGM Grand hotels in Las Vegas and
Reno for $594 million to
Bally Manufacturing. The Las Vegas property was subsequently renamed
Bally's. Spun off from
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
,
MGM Resorts International owns and operates several properties, including the
Bellagio, the current
MGM Grand,
The Mirage, the
New York-New York,
Circus Circus,
Mandalay Bay,
The Luxor
Luxor Las Vegas is a 30-story casino hotel situated on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The hotel is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International and has a casino with over 2,000 slot machines a ...
,
Excalibur,
Park MGM and the
CityCenter complex in Las Vegas.
MGM sold its
Treasure Island Hotel and Casino property to billionaire and former
New Frontier owner
Phil Ruffin
Phillip Gene Ruffin (born March 14, 1935) is an American businessman. He owns the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino and Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, in addition to a number of other enterprises including hotels, casinos, greyhound ...
for $750 million.
MGM
In 1969, Kerkorian appointed
James Thomas Aubrey Jr. as president of MGM. Aubrey downsized the struggling MGM and sold off massive amounts of historical memorabilia, including
Dorothy's ruby slippers from the 1939 film ''
The Wizard of Oz'', the majority of the studio's backlots in Culver City and overseas operations such as the British MGM studio at Borehamwood. Kerkorian sold MGM's distribution system in 1973, and gradually distanced himself from the daily operation of the studio. He also owned minority interest in
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
but his holdings were thwarted by the
Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
who filed an
antitrust suit due to his owning stock in two studios. In 1979, Kerkorian issued a statement claiming that MGM was now primarily a hotel company; however, he also managed to expand the overall film library and production system with the purchase of
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...
from
Transamerica in 1981, becoming MGM/UA Entertainment Company. In March 1986, he sold MGM to
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he ...
.
[Prince, Stephen (2000) ''A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980–1989'' (pp. 14–16, 71–74). ]University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...
, Berkeley/ Los Angeles, California. After the purchase was made, Turner sold the United Artists subsidiary back to Kerkorian.
Turner kept ownership of MGM from March 25 to August 26, 1986. He racked up huge debts and Turner simply could not afford to keep the studio under those circumstances. To recoup his investment, Turner sold the production/distribution assets and trademarks of MGM (including its post-May 1986 libraries) to United Artists, while retaining the pre-May 1986 MGM,
Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ''Popey ...
(the pre-1950
Warner Bros. library and
Fleischer Studios/
Famous Studios ''
Popeye'' cartoons) and
RKO Radio Pictures libraries as well as ''
Gilligan's Island'' and its animated spin-offs ''
The New Adventures of Gilligan'' and ''
Gilligan's Planet''.
The studio lot was sold to
Lorimar-Telepictures, which was later acquired by Warner Bros.; in 1990, the lot was sold to
Sony Corporation's
Columbia Pictures Entertainment in exchange for the half of Warner's lot that it had rented since 1972. Also in 1990, the MGM studio was purchased by Italian financier
Giancarlo Parretti
Giancarlo Parretti (born 23 October 1941) is an Italian financier.
In 1989, he took over Cannon Film Group Inc. from Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. Almost immediately, he made plans to take over the storied French studio Pathé, and changed Ca ...
, who then merged the former
Cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
with the MGM purchase to create the short-lived
MGM-Pathé Communications
MGM-Pathé Communications was an American film production company that operated in Los Angeles County, California from 1990 to 1992.
The company was founded and controlled by Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti through his purchase and merger o ...
. Parretti defaulted on the loans he'd used to buy the studio, leaving the studio in the hands of the French bank,
Crédit Lyonnais
The Crédit Lyonnais (, "Lyon Credit ompany) was a major French bank, created in 1863 and absorbed by former rival Crédit Agricole in 2003. Its head office was initially in Lyon but moved to Paris in 1882. In the early years of the 20th cent ...
. Crédit Lyonnais invested significant sums to revive the moribund studio and eventually sold it back to Kerkorian in 1996. Kerkorian soon expanded the company, purchasing
Orion Pictures,
The Samuel Goldwyn Company and
Motion Picture Corporation of America from
John Kluge's
Metromedia in 1997, and bought the pre-1996
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (formerly known as PolyGram Films and PolyGram Pictures or simply PFE) was a British film studio founded in 1979 which became a European competitor to Hollywood, but was eventually sold to Seagram Company Ltd. in 1 ...
library in 1999 from its parent
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...
, which was in process to sell
PolyGram to
Seagram.
In 2005, Kerkorian sold MGM once more to a consortium led by Sony. He retained a 55% stake in MGM Mirage.
On November 22, 2006, Kerkorian's Tracinda investment corporation offered to buy 15 million shares of MGM Mirage to increase his stake in the gambling giant from 56.3% to 61.7%, if approved.
In May 2009, following the completion of a $1 billion stock offering by MGM Mirage, Kerkorian and Tracinda lost their majority ownership of the gaming company, dropping from 53.8 percent to 39 percent and even after pledging to purchase 10 percent of the new stock offering they now remain minority owners.
Auto industry
Kerkorian had an on-again/off-again relationship with the American auto industry. His involvement began in 1995 when with the assistance of retired Chrysler chairman and CEO
Lee Iacocca, Kerkorian staged a takeover attempt of the
Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler's management treated the takeover as hostile, and after a lengthy battle, Kerkorian canceled his plans and sold his Chrysler stake in 1996. As part of the settlement, Iacocca was placed under a gag order forbidding him from discussing Chrysler in public or print for five years. Two years later, Chrysler management agreed to be acquired by German automaker
Daimler-Benz
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufactu ...
.
Kerkorian always drove an American vehicle, including a Ford Taurus and Jeep Cherokee.
Kerkorian once owned 9.9 percent of
General Motors (GM). According to press accounts from June 30, 2006, Kerkorian suggested that
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
acquired a 20 percent stake in GM to rescue GM from itself. A letter from Tracinda to
Rick Wagoner
George Richard "Rick" Wagoner Jr. (born February 9, 1953) is an American businessman and former chair and chief executive officer of General Motors. Wagoner resigned as chairman and CEO at General Motors on March 29, 2009, at the request of the W ...
was released to the public, to pressure GM's executive hierarchy, but talks failed. On November 22, 2006 Kerkorian sold 14 million shares of his GM stake (it is speculated that this action was due to GM's rejection of Renault and Nissan's bids for stakes in the company as both of these bids were strongly supported by Kerkorian); the sale resulted in GM's share price falling 4.1% from its November 20 price, although it remained above $30/share. The sale lowered Kerkorian's holding to around 7% of GM. On November 30, 2006 Tracinda said it had agreed to sell another 14 million shares of GM, cutting Kerkorian's stake to half of what it had been earlier that year. By the end of November 2006, he had sold substantially all of his remaining GM shares. After Kerkorian sold, GM lost more than 90% of its value, falling as low as $1/share by May 2009, and filed bankruptcy on June 1, 2009.
On April 5, 2007, Kirk Kerkorian made a $4.58 billion bid for the
Chrysler Group, the U.S. arm of
Daimler-Chrysler. After Daimler-Chrysler announced they were interested in selling the Chrysler division on February 14, large investors such as
Cerberus Capital Management,
The Blackstone Group and
Magna International each announced intentions to bid on the company. Kerkorian's bid, while not expected, was not surprising given his long involvement in the U.S. automobile industry. During the bidding process, he sought the aid of his close associate
Jerome York
Jerome Bailey York (June 22, 1938 – March 18, 2010), commonly known as Jerry York, was an American businessman, and the chairman, president and CEO of Harwinton Capital. He was the former CFO of IBM and Chrysler, and was CEO of Micro Wareho ...
who was a former CFO at both Chrysler and
IBM. On May 14, 2007 80% of the Chrysler arm of Daimler-Chrysler was sold to Cerberus for $7.4 billion.
Kerkorian began buying
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
stock in April 2008, and spent about $1 billion to accumulate a 6% stake in the automaker. By October 2008, the investment had lost two-thirds of its value, and he began selling. Tracinda explained, "In light of current economic and market conditions, it sees unique value in the gaming and hospitality and oil and gas industries and has, therefore, decided to reallocate its resources and to focus on those industries."
On October 21, Tracinda sold the 7.3 million Ford shares at an average price of $2.43, and said it planned to cut further its existing 6.1 percent stake in Ford, for a potential total loss of more than half a billion dollars. Kerkorian sold his remaining stake in Ford on December 29, 2008.
Wealth
Kerkorian's net worth in 2008 was $16.0 billion according to ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' magazine, making him the 41st richest person in the world and the richest person in California at that time. By 2011, Kerkorian was among those hardest hit by stock market recession as his net worth tumbled to $3.2 billion. In 2013 he was listed as the 412th richest person with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Personal life
Kerkorian was an "intensely private person". He almost never gave interviews and seldom appeared in public. "Kerkorian rarely attended board meetings and never gave speeches. He was shy, but was a tough negotiator. Those who knew him describe him not as a Hughesian hermit, but as a gentle, gracious, normal guy."
Kerkorian was an avid
tennis player
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
, played in tournaments, associated with other players like Lornie Kuhle, and routinely played with
Alex Yemenidjian
Alejandro Yemenidjian (born 27 December 1955), also known as Alex Yemenidjian, is Chairman of the Board of Armenco Capital, LLC.
Life and career
Alex Yemenidjian is of Armenian ethnicity, and was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His maternal grand ...
, a former MGM executive, and former owner of the
Tropicana Las Vegas resort. He had a penchant for expensive clothes (especially custom-made outfits by Italian designer
Brioni), but drove relatively low cost vehicles, such as a
Pontiac Firebird
The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile that was built and produced by Pontiac from the 1967 to 2002 model years. Designed as a pony car to compete with the Ford Mustang, it was introduced on February 23, 1967, five months after GM's ...
,
Jeep Grand Cherokee and a
Ford Taurus.
Kerkorian died in
Beverly Hills, California on June 15, 2015, nine days after his 98th birthday. He is buried at
Inglewood Park Cemetery in
Inglewood, California near Los Angeles.
Family
Kerkorian was married four times, first to Hilda Schmidt from 1942 to 1952.
His next marriage, to Jean Maree Hardy, lasted from 1954 to 1984. The two had met at the
Thunderbird resort in Las Vegas. Hardy, a dancer from England, traveled the world instructing dance troupes. They met and fell in love while she was sent to check opportunities to choreograph a performance in Las Vegas. The marriage produced Kerkorian's two daughters, Tracy and Linda, whose names serve as a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[Lisa Bonder
Lisa Bonder (born October 16, 1965), also known as Lisa Bonder-Kreiss or Lisa Bonder-Kerkorian, is an American former professional tennis player. During her career, she won four singles titles on the WTA circuit and reached a highest ranking of N ...](_blank)
, 48 years his junior, which lasted only one month. The two had signed a
prenuptial agreement before marrying. Kerkorian subsequently was involved in a breach of privacy suit filed against him by
Steve Bing. Kerkorian claimed Bing was the father of Bonder's daughter, an allegation which was later confirmed by
DNA paternity testing. On August 10, 2006, the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' reported that Kerkorian's attorneys were being sued by Bonder because of their connection to former high-profile private investigator
Anthony Pellicano, who in 2008 began serving a fifteen-year prison sentence for running a wiretapping scheme. Bonder's attorney alleged that Kerkorian's lawyers hired Pellicano to wiretap telephone calls between him and Kerkorian's ex-wife in order to gain a tactical advantage in the divorce proceedings, an allegation that was later proven true. Pellicano also took a strand of Bing's used
dental floss (surreptitiously acquired from rubbish) and used it to prove that it was Bing and not Kerkorian who fathered Bonder's daughter. Attorney Terry Christensen was subsequently convicted of
racketeering for hiring Pellicano to tap Bonder's phone, and received a three-year prison sentence that was confirmed on appeal.
Kerkorian's short-lived fourth marriage (2014) was to Una Davis, born in 1966. The marriage lasted only 57 days and divorce proceedings were underway when Kerkorian died in June 2015.
The Lincy Foundation and philanthropic activities
Kerkorian was active in philanthropy through his charitable foundation, The Lincy Foundation, named after his daughters, Linda and Tracy. The foundation reportedly donated more than $1 billion, though Kerkorian never allowed anything to be named in his honor. The foundation covered half of the cost of an 80-kilometer highway in Armenia. Over the next decade, Kerkorian financed more than $200 million of infrastructure projects in Armenia, including $60 million to the reconstruction of schools and streets and the renovation of many museums, theaters and concert halls.
The Lincy Foundation was dissolved in 2011 after 22 years of charitable activities after dispensing its last $200 million to
University of California, Los Angeles. Half was earmarked for medical research, scholarships and other projects while the other half was earmarked to create the "Dream Fund" for charitable causes around the country.
Estate
Most of the $2 billion estate was left to charity, with a three-person committee left to distribute the funds within three years.
In December 2018 the estate settled with his 4th wife for $12.5 million, along with $10.0 million and $50.0 million for two philanthropic foundations, advised by his 4th wife.
Awards and recognition
Armenia issued a Kirk Kerkoria
stampin 2017. The city of
Gyumri unveiled a statue of Kerkorian in 2018.
[«Սա իմ շնորհակալությունն է բարերարին»․ Գյումրիում տեղադրվեց Քըրք Քըրքորյանի արձանը (“This is my thanks to my benefactor: A statue of Kirk Kerkorian was erected in Gyumri” - in Armenian)- https://www.azatutyun.am/a/29316524.html]
References
Bibliography
*
*
Further reading
*
Making it in America: A Sourcebook on Eminent Ethnic Americans2001
More Peoples of Las Vegas: One City, Many Faces2010
The Rough Guide to Las Vegas2011
Philanthropists and Foundation Globalization2011
*
*
Kirk Kerkorian article at Armeniapedia.org
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerkorian, Kirk
1917 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American philanthropists
American billionaires
Armenian billionaires
American male boxers
American casino industry businesspeople
American chief executives of financial services companies
American film studio executives
American financiers
American hoteliers
American investors
American people of Armenian descent
American transportation businesspeople
American venture capitalists
Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery
Businesspeople from California
Corporate raiders
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives
National Hero of Armenia
People from Beverly Hills, California
People from Fresno, California
Automotive businesspeople