The 50 Wealthiest Angelenos: Kirk Kerkorian – #2

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The 50 Wealthiest Angelenos: Kirk Kerkorian – #2
Kirk Kerkorian

The money and the buzz on each of L.A.’s wealthiest.

Is it the end of an era for the aging Beverly Hills casino mogul?

After years of being the majority shareholder of MGM Mirage, Kerkorian reduced his 53 percent stake in MGM to about 39 percent. Five months later, he signaled he might further reduce his interest in the casino empire he built from scratch. His moves come as MGM recovers from the devastating recession that hit the hotel and gaming industries – and as speculation reigns that the company is readying itself for sale by changing its name to MGM Resorts International.

The king of the casinos hasn’t had it easy on any front.

In September, the federal judge in the high-profile wiretapping case of Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano declared there was “reasonable cause to believe” that the billionaire was “complicit” in some of the investigator’s illegal conduct. Pellicano and Terry Christensen, Kerkorian’s longtime attorney, were convicted of conspiring to tap the phone of Kerkorian’s former wife during a dispute over child support.

A couple of months later, MGM opened $11 billion mixed-use project CityCenter Las Vegas in a firework and star-studded gala attended by Eva Longoria and Priscilla Presley. Kerkorian lauded the project as “amazing,” but questions still lurk as to whether cash-strapped consumers will flock to CityCenter’s 4,000-plus high-end hotel rooms.

Past investments also haunt Kerkorian: His investment company Tracinda paid $8.1 million to settle an insider-trading lawsuit stemming from stock he bought in auto company DaimlerChrysler in 1999. Kerkorian is surely still stung by his early sell-off of Ford stock last year that net him a loss of $762 million. Had he held on to those shares, they’d now be worth more than $1 billion.

But while the Fresno-born Armenian American who once flew transport planes during World War II isn’t flying so high anymore, he isn’t done by any means. He recently showed some of his wily investment ways when he upped his stake in floundering Denver oil company Delta Petroleum Corp., ousted its chairman and pushed Delta to seek a buyer.

Amid all the turmoil, Kerkorian still found time to donate $14 million to the University of Nevada Las Vegas for education, health care and social service work. UNLV returned the favor when it awarded him an honorary degree.

• NET WORTH: $6.3 billion +19%

• LAST YEAR: $5.3 billion

• AGE: 92

• RESIDENCE: Beverly Hills

• SOURCE OF WEALTH: Investments

• THE MONEY: Nascent recovery helped boost fortune of wily nonagenarian investor by cool $1 billion. Shares of MGM Mirage have nearly tripled since summer 2009. Still, net worth down by more than half since recession started.

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