Kirk Kerkorian was born on the 6th June 1917, in Fresno, California USA of American Armenian ancestry, and died on the 16th June 2015 in Los Angeles, USA. He was an investor, businessman and philanthropist, probably best known as the CEO and chairman of Tracinda Corporation. In 1989, Kirk created the Lincy Foundation of which main focus was to help to rebuild Armenia after the earthquake; it is known that Kerkorian transferred more than $1 billion through this foundation. He was titled as the National Hero of Armenia in 2004.
How much was the net worth of Kirk Kerkorian? It has been estimated that the overall size of the businessman’s wealth was $4.1 billion at the time of his passing.
Kirk Kerkorian Net Worth $4.1 Billion
To begin with, he was born into a poor family, so much so that Kirk Kerkorian abandoned his studies while still in college to help his family by doing odd jobs. As an amateur boxer, he won 29 out of 33 fights, before abandoning the sport. Later, Kerkorian obtained a pilot’s license and became a flight instructor. During World War II, he served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force.
After the war, Kirk Kerkorian renovated and sold old military aircraft transports as well as becoming involved in the airline business, from which he earned huge sums of money. In 1962, Kerkorian acquired 32 hectares of land overlooking the Las Vegas Strip, and subsequently the businessman built several hotels there, which were in turn considered the largest hotels in the world. In 1969, he opened the International Hotel with 1,512 rooms, followed by the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. In 2000, Kerkorian acquired the Mirage Resorts company. Undoubtedly, Kirk Kerkorian increased his net worth substantially doing business in Las Vegas.
More, Kerkorian bought 40% of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio in 1969, and 10 years later, he launched a takeover bid and took control of the company. In 1978, Kerkorian acquired a 25% stake in Columbia Pictures, and in 1981, he bought United Artists. The Justice Department launched an antitrust procedure to prevent him from taking control of a second studio, so in 1981, the businessman sold his shares in Columbia. He continued with an interest in film studios for a number of years.
In addition to these, Kerkorian became a shareholder in Chrysler in 1990, and in 1995, with the support of Lee Iacocca, he launched a hostile takeover of the group. He subsequently sold his shares in 1998 when the American automaker merged with Daimler-Benz, with the deal allowing him to triple the value of his initial investment. In 2005, the businessman bought 9.9% of General Motors, and tried to persuade the leadership of the group to get rid of unprofitable brands and form an alliance with Renault-Nissan. When they refused, he sold his shares. However, he invested in Ford, up to 6% of the company, but soon sold to cut his losses.
Finally, in the personal life of the businessman, Kerkorian kept his personal life private; he hardly ever gave interviews or appeared in public. He was married three times. His first wife was Hilda Schmidt (1942 – 1952), the second the dancer Jean Maree Hardy (1954 – 1984) with whom he had two daughters, and the third was tennis player Lisa Bonder (1999 – 1999) – her daughter was shown not to be Kerkorian’s. The businessman died in June 2015 at the age of 98.
