Billionaire Financier Kirk Kerkorian Dies At 98
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who made his fortune in Las Vegas hotels and MGM deals, has died, according to reports. He was 98.
Considered one of the founders of modern Las Vegas, Kerkorian was the largest shareholder in MGM Resorts International, which he founded in the early 1990s, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which reported that he died Monday night.
Kerkorian is perhaps best known for building and opening three of what were considered the world's largest hotel-casinos — the International, now the Westgate Las Vegas, in 1969; the original MGM Grand, now Bally's Las Vegas, in 1973; and the current MGM Grand Las Vegas in 1993.
He invested in numerous industries, including airlines, carmakers and film studios. In the 1940s, he operated a small airline that shuttled gamblers into then-remote Las Vegas from a Los Angeles-area airport.
In a statement reported by the Review-Journal, MGM Resorts International Chairman and CEO Jim Murren said "MGM Resorts and our family of 62,000 employees are honoring the memory of a great man, a great business leader, a great community leader, an innovator, and one of our country's greatest generation."
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