On Monday, Kirk Kerkorian sold Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. for the third time. As a Hollywood reconciliation story, that means Kerkorian has bought and sold the venerable movie studio more times than Elizabeth Taylor married Richard Burton.
The 87-year-old billionaire has been many things in his life: streetwise boyhood sharpie, wiry pug boxer, daring World War II pilot, airline chief, Las Vegas casino owner, friend of Hollywood's Rat Pack and movie studio mogul. Now, he returns his full attention to Vegas, where he is merging his MGM Mirage casino with Mandalay Resort Group in a $7.9 billion deal, giving him control of half of the action on the Strip.
Kirk Kerkorian is listed by Forbes magazine as the 65th-richest person in the world.
(Mike Mergen -- Bloomberg News)
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Hollywood Romance Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian has bought and sold Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. three times since 1969.
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Hollywood's Lion Kings Sony is buying one of Hollywood's most famous studios, but it's Comcast and the future of content delivery that may make this merger more meaningful to consumers.
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Why has he lobbed the MGM back and forth like a tennis ball in his beloved game, which he still plays often and at which he beats younger opponents? It has less to do with sentimentality and more to do with situational dealmaking and targets of opportunity, which have defined Kerkorian's career, say those who have worked with him.
Asked to explain his on-again, off-again love affair with the studio known for its roaring lion logo, Terry N. Christensen -- who met Kerkorian when he was buying MGM for the first time in 1969 and has been his personal lawyer for many years since -- paused, laughed and said, "You could ask me a lot of questions, but that's one I can't answer."
Is it the storied history of the studio, which produced the "The Wizard of Oz," "Ben-Hur" and the "Tarzan" films? Unlikely, since MGM held a fire sale on Kerkorian's watch in 1970, selling its studio lot and many props, including Dorothy's ruby slippers.
Is it the access to Hollywood's glam life? Probably not. He is known for his lack of pretense. When MGM's "A Fish Called Wanda" came out, Kerkorian told studio head Alan Ladd Jr. that he enjoyed the movie even though he was twice turned away from sold-out theaters. "Kirk, we'd show it to you anytime you want to see it," a flabbergasted Ladd told Kerkorian. "Oh, no, no. I wouldn't do that," Ladd said Kerkorian replied.
Instead, Kerkorian has treated the famous studio as he has every other property he's owned -- as a business asset he buys low with the intention of building, but will sell high at the right price.
Kerkorian acquired the studio for the third time at auction in 1996, when it was hemorrhaging millions. He transferred Alex Yemenidjian -- who was buying and selling companies for Tracinda Corp., Kerkorian's holding company -- from Las Vegas to Hollywood and told him to fix MGM. Yemenidjian hired Christopher J. McGurk from Universal Pictures to run the finances.
Kerkorian picked the right time to re-enter the movie business. The media sector was surging. By 1999, MGM reported its first profit in 11 years. Time Inc. and Warner Bros. merged. In 2000, AOL bought Time Warner Inc. Shortly after, Vivendi and Universal combined. Kerkorian and Yemenidjian expanded MGM, adding distribution and co-production deals with other studios, buying a piece of a cable company, launching cable television channels overseas and hitting Broadway with shows featuring MGM characters.
One year ago, MGM thought it was about to add the missing piece to its plan -- Universal's movie and television studios and cable channels, which failing conglomerate Vivendi Universal SA was selling off. But at the last minute, General Electric Co.'s NBC swooped in and stole the prize.
