The Father of the Mega-resort
Kirk Kerkorian has to be considered the man behind the mega-resort. I
learned his name in 1975, when I first came to Las Vegas and began to
work in his first such hotel, the Las Vegas Hilton. He built it in 1969
as the International. Until he opened the original MGM Grand on Flamingo
at Las Vegas Boulevard, The Hilton stood alone 30 stories above
everything else in the desert. He sold that building and the Reno MGM to
Bally Manufacturing Corporation in 1986. In 1993, he built and opened
the current MGM Grand. Each of these buildings was the largest resort
hotel in the world at the time it opened for business.
Twenty years after the opening of the International, Steve Wynn opened
the Mirage, and the boom of the mega-resorts began to quickly spread
along the Strip, but Kerkorian started it all.
Kerkorian could easily be the subject of a movie more interesting than
'The Aviator'. In him, we have a self-made man, born in Fresno,
California in 1917, whose family lost everything during the recession of
1921-1922 then moved to Los Angeles, where he began to earn money doing
odd jobs and selling newspapers. After dropping out of junior high
school, he became Pacific amateur welterweight boxing champion. While
working at installing furnaces, he fell in love with flying and by 1940,
he got his commercial pilot's license. During WWII, he was flying
Mosquito bombers from Labrador to Scotland. One in four successfully
made the trip, but the pay was high to those who succeeded. He made it
in 33 planes.
Kerkorian first came to Las Vegas in 1945. He was flying charter flights
from Los Angeles in his privately owned Cessna. He became a Vegas 'high
roller in the 40s and 50s. He no longer gambles. He married Jean Maree
Hardy, who had been a dancer at the Tropicana Hotel and had two
daughters, Tracy and Linda. His personal holding company Tracinda
Corporation and his charitable organization, The Lincy Foundation,
derive from their names.
Kerkorian's first big venture into the Las Vegas valley, was the
purchase of 80 acres across the Strip from the Flamingo Hotel in 1962.
He got the land at the low price of $960,000, because a thin strip of
land was between it and Las Vegas Boulevard. When he was successful at
acquiring that strip of land, Jay Sarno leased the land from Kerkorian
and built Caesars' Palace. Strangely enough, Steve Wynn also got his big
financial boost in a narrow strip of land which he bought from Howard
Hughes in 1971, that prevented Caesar's palace property to reach
Flamingo Road.
Would Kerkorian want to see a movie of his life made? More than likely
not. He is a quiet man, though not a recluse by any means. He does not
seek public attention. He prefers the company of his group of old
friends. Though in his late eighties, he has others run his businesses,
but he still does some hard negotiating, and during those times, he
still has the glint of the boxer and Mosquito pilot in his eye, and is
tough as nails.
On the other hand, ranked forty-first among the world's richest in
Forbes, he is a generous man. He had a major part in building Las Vegas
and putting many Las Vegans to work. His Lincy Foundation not only help
to rebuild Armenia after the earthquake of 1988, with millions of
dollars in housing grants, but they are helping to fund the school and
road systems of that country today. It also contributes financially to
several important organizations in the United States.
Kirk Kerkorian has to be considered the man behind the mega-resort. I
learned his name in 1975, when I first came to Las Vegas and began to
work in his first such hotel, the Las Vegas Hilton. He built it in 1969
as the International. Until he opened the original MGM Grand on Flamingo
at Las Vegas Boulevard, The Hilton stood alone 30 stories above
everything else in the desert. He sold that building and the Reno MGM to
Bally Manufacturing Corporation in 1986. In 1993, he built and opened
the current MGM Grand. Each of these buildings was the largest resort
hotel in the world at the time it opened for business.