Kirk Kerkorian, One of Modern Las Vegas Founders, Passes Away

Billionaire and father of the modern Las Vegas mega-resort, Kirk Kerkorian, died at the age of 98 on Monday night in Los Angeles. Kirk, who founded MGM Resorts International, rarely gave interviews as he was trying his whole life to stay out of the spotlight.

A business icon is well known for selling and buying MGM film studio three times and every single time he was able to make a profit. MGM Resort said in the statement that Kirk was a major force behind transformation of Las Vegas Strip as he managed to turn it into popular destination.

As a young man, Kirk Kerkorian dropped out of school and started his boxing career. That dream ended soon as he lacked the size to turn pro. During the World War II he got his pilot license and was flying dangerous missions delivering warplanes from Canada to Britain. After the war, Kirk started charter flight business where he served gamblers who wanted to get fast from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

He had brilliant business insight as he sold his charter airline (which he later repurchased) and started buying properties in Las Vegas in 1962. In early 1970s Kirk opened the first MGM Grand in Las Vegas which had more than 2,000 hotel rooms and later he opened another MGM Grand but this time with more than 5,000 rooms. The King of Las Vegas also helped to develop the City Center, the worth of which was estimated at $8.5b in 2009.

In 2011 Kirk stepped down as a director of MGM Resorts International but he remained the largest shareholder. Jim Murren, MGM chief executive, said that Kirk was a great businessman, great community leader and a great man.

He was involved with many different industries from airlines to film studios, but gaming business was his passion. He operated and sold numerous Strip resorts while greatly helping to transform Las Vegas into most popular tourist destination in the world.

When it comes to his personal life, Kirk got married four times. He also quietly donated a fortune to charities all around the world and gave hundreds of millions dollars for recovery of Armenia after it was hit by devastating earthquake. In May 2015, Forbes has estimated Kirk’s wealth at $4.2b.

Everyone who knew Kirk described him as generous and humble man who never bragged about his fortune. Many believe that Las Vegas would be much smaller in many ways without him and he is widely recognized as one of the founders of modern Las Vegas.

Photo: fox5vegas.com