Kirk Kerkorian, 1917-2015

Here in Las Vegas, the impact of Kirk Kerkorian‘s death is still sinking in. A man known for self-effacing personal habits left the world as discreetly as he passed through it in his Ford Taurus, leaving accomplishments that far exceeded any personal ego. Tributes were quick to roll in. The Fremont Street Experience played a memorial video montage — a valediction as outsized as Kerkorian’s career. He is only the second casino owner to rate such a salute, Jackie Gaughan being the other. Aria has dedicated its I-15 video billboard to a series of Kerkorian portraits.

If there was an important casino on the Strip, Kerkorian bought it at some point or other. And if it didn’t exist, he built it: the International, the first MGM Grand (now Bally’s) and MGM Grand 2.0. He brought Elvis Presley back to Las Vegas. KerkorianDespite a disinterest in motion pictures per se, Kerkorian (born Kerkor Kerkorian) bought M-G-M three times and United Artists once. Kerkorian’s perpetual cool was honed by World War II experience in which he defied the odds in delivering Mosquito fighters to the RAF, sometimes seemingly on sheer guts. Having cheated death so many times in the air, he seemed destined to give it a run for its money on earth. He bought Mirage Resorts out from under Steve Wynn, at a time when Wynn was vulnerable to shareholder unrest, and the combined MGM Mirage would soon after pivot and acquire underperforming Mandalay Resort Group, giving MGM a collection of high-, low- and middle-end properties spanning the gamut of the Strip.

“In the business world, he was known more for making a deal than for nurturing a company over the long haul, often taking a major risk, reaping the benefits and getting out,” reports The Guardian. The current MGM Resorts International was one of the few constants in his wheeling, dealing career. Adds the New York Times, “He pursued strategies that baffled business rivals and Wall Street analysts and that left him sometimes on the verge of bankruptcy,” and yet Kerkorian always lived to deal another day, even if at the time of his death his personal wealth was at a shadow of its $18 billion peak.

If, as Lee Iacocca said, “Doing deals in what keeps him alive,” perhaps there were no deals left for Kerkorian to make. Whatever the case, Las Vegas just got a little bit smaller.

Kerkorian’s death, inevitably, creates a power shift in MGM Resorts, bigger perhaps than anticipated. His will mandates that all Tracinda Corp. stock, 16% of the company and a $1.7 billion stake, must be put up for sale. Tracinda’s last major accomplishment was to back the company’s incumbent board of directors against a challenge from Jonathan Litt. Now the door is open for somebody else to buy their way in and try and flex their muscles as Kerkorian once did.

* An Ohio lawmaker is irked with the state’s policy of taxing casinos, Coleywhich permits the exemption of an unlimited amount of free-play coupons and other promotional allowances. State Sen. Bill Coley (R) argues that Buckeye State schools have lost out on $165 million over the last three years and that deductions for free-play credits, etc., should be capped at $5 million. Of course, this would make it a little more difficult for casinos, taxed at 33%, to turn a profit and Penn National Gaming has already gone on record in opposition. Coley’s bill is currently in committee and Penn would like it to stay there.

* It’s a no-brainer but it sure took the Las Vegas Review-Journal a long time to come out against the proposed halving of the “IRS lockdown” on jackpots to $600.

* For a “mistake,” Sands Bethlehem is doing awfully well for Sheldon Adelson, grossing $45 million, only decimal points behind Parx Casino, the usual leader in Pennsylvania. Sands, meanwhile, is bethlehemfighting a rear-guard action against the Legislature, which is toying with satellite casinos (250 slots per box), slots in OTBs, slot routes, slots in airports, etc. Sands, however, does not oppose round-the-clock alcohol service, nor tax credits to incentivize casinos to reinvest in their physical plants. Considering that the alternative to more gambling is higher income taxes, lawmakers are more than half-willing to consider it, especially since each new perk for casinos would come with a multi-million-dollar permit fee. As Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs CEO Mike Dean put it, “Definitely, 24-hour alcohol service would be an enhancement for us. But I’m not sure we’d be willing to pay a $5 million fee for it.”

Rejected Rivers Casino NY* Something doesn’t add up in Schenectady, where Neil Bluhm‘s Rush Street Gaming has come out with a new and considerably more generic design for its casino, described as the centerpiece of “a 50-boat slip harbor, two hotels, condos and apartments, and retail and office space for tech firms on 60 acres along Rivers Casino NYErie Boulevard.” Local residents aren’t reacting well to the change of design, even though Rush Street says the budget hasn’t been downsized to match the smaller-looking casino. Are you buying it? Look at the “before” (above) and “after” (right) renderings and see what you think.

* Internet casino games had a good month in New Jersey, up 29%, but i-poker has seen better days … much better.

This entry was posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Downtown, Harry Reid, history, Internet gambling, MGM Mirage, Mohegan Sun, Movies, Neil Bluhm, New York, Ohio, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Politics, Slot routes, Steve Wynn, Taxes, The Strip, Wall Street. Bookmark the permalink.