Kirk Kerkorian - Entrepreneur Extraordinaire
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/business/kirk-kerkorian-billionaire-investor-in-film-studios-and-casinos-dies-at-98.html
“One of the myths about great entrepreneurs is that they love risk and are big gamblers. In fact, they usually do everything they can to reduce risk and are rarely true gamblers. But there is always an exception to the rule. This is the story of one of those exceptions, Kirk Kerkorian, perhaps America’s greatest gambler. Starting from the fields of Southern California and fighting his way out of poverty in Los Angeles, this proud son of Armenian immigrants went on to reshape Las Vegas, Hollywood and Armenia.”
Gary Hoover, American Origins
In 1890 Kirk’s grandfather Kasper came to the United States to escape the harsh Ottoman government which had overtaken Armenian lands. Ten years later his son, Ahron, joined his father in California. An ambitious young man, he began to haul citrus fruit from the farms to the towns in his horse-drawn wagon. He never learned to read and write English. He and his wife, Lilly, had four children, the youngest, Kerkor, was born in Fresno in 1917. With the start of World War I Ahron realized that raisins were storable nutrition for American soldiers and by the end of the war he had become the “raisin baron of San Joaquin”. Unfortunately, the recession of 1920-21 wiped him out. To escape creditors Ahron moved his family to Los Angeles where the family moved from one house to another during the Great Depression. Trying to “fit in” Kerkor started going by a new name, “Kirk”.
The Young Man
https://profectusmag.com/american-original-kirk-kerkorian/
When he was nine years old, Kirk began selling newspapers on street corners to help his family with their expenses. Unfortunately, this shy, slim kid was often the target of bullies as the family moved from one neighborhood to another. He was beaten up badly but never backed down. One bully, Norman, eventually became his friend. By the end of his eighth grade which included auto shop, Kirk dropped out of school. Kirk and his siblings took any jobs available to help support the family. His brother, Nish, became an amateur boxer to help out. Kirk and Norman, his former nemesis, joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for $30 a month, building roads and trails through the high Sierra of Northern California.
“As the 1930’s proceeded, Kirk’s entrepreneurial spirit began to emerge. He started buying old cars, cleaning them up and selling them for a $15 profit, using skills learned in auto shop. In 1937, the 20-year-old Kirk followed his brother into the boxing ring, where he gradually earned the moniker “Rifle Right Kerkorian.” He won 33 out of 37 bouts and was never knocked out. One tough kid!”
Gary Hoover, American Origins Barnes
Airplanes in, Boxing out
By the Fall of 1939, Kirk was working for the Andrews Heating Company. His crew leader was a veteran Navy pilot who took Kirk on a ride in his plane. Kirk loved the plane ride so much that he changed his plan to be a champion boxer to being a flyer. He took flying lessons from pioneer aviator Pancho Barnes at the Happy Bottom Riding Club and paid for his lessons by milking and tending her cattle. Within 6 months he qualified for a commercial pilot’s license.
https://www.archbridgeinstitute.org/kirk-kerkorian-risk-taker-who-rose-from-poverty-to-change-las-vegas-and-armenia/
Kirk became a pilot trainer for a California defense contractor. During the war, Canada was looking for pilots to ferry new warplanes to Britain. Kirk jumped at the chance and moved to Montreal with his wife, his first trip outside California. He began ferrying planes across the North Atlantic after training with the Royal Air Force. These trips were very dangerous, and Kirk had a few close calls, but he loved it. In 2 ½ years, by the end of the war, he made 33 hair-raising trips, traveled to four continents and flew his first four-engine plane.
After the war Kirk opened a flight school. He bought a Cessna with the money he saved from his war wages and started a charter business flying gamblers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas when it was still a small town of 8,500 residents. It wasn’t long before Kirk was looking for a bigger deal. He sold both the flight school and charter business for a profit and bought seven C-47’s from the military. The price was low because the planes were stranded in Hawaii. They didn’t have a large enough fuel capacity to make it to California. Even with extra fuel tanks they just barely made it to the west coast where he made a nice profit on all the planes.
“In 1947 Kirk put together enough money to purchase a three-plane charter operation at Los Angeles Municipal Airport. He also continued to buy and sell used aircraft. He developed a reputation for honesty and fairness. When one plane turned out to be in worse shape than the customer was promised, Kirk gave the customer his money back, no questions asked.”
Gary Hoover, American Origins
In 1950 Kirk bought an old four engine DC-4 for the bargain price of $70,000 because the plane had been used to haul cattle so the interior was a disaster and the odor was very pungent. He borrowed $100,000 to clean it up and then sold it for $340,000. This was the first year Kirk made $100,000 in personal income.
Las Vegas and MGM
In 1962 Kirk bought 80 acres of land in Las Vegas, across from the Flamingo which led to the erection of Caesars Palace. In 1967 he bought 82 acres of land on Paradise Road in Las Vegas and built the International Hotel, the largest hotel in the world at that time. The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino followed. In 1986 Kirk sold several of his hotels and casinos in Las Vegas and Reno.
By the end of the 1960’s MGM studios had fallen on hard times, so Kirk borrowed millions and fought the old owners to buy 40% of the company. He hired new management and told them to cut the losses and raise cash. Real Estate and props from their movies were sold but he was able to save the company by retaining the MGM brand and its library of classic films.
In 1971 he decided to diversify by building, again, the biggest casino in the world. Because he had never defaulted on a loan, he was able to borrow the necessary funds to build the MGM Grand Hotel on the Strip and fill it with movie memorabilia. Kirk had recovered and opened the new hotel in 1973. The next year the MGM studios made more profit than ever before in its history. On November 21, 1980 he received a call that an electrical fire had broken out in the casino trapping 85 hotel guests in their rooms where they died. Kirk ordered the lawsuits to be settled quickly, advancing the money out of his own pocket.
Auto Industry
Kirk had an on again/off again relationship with the American auto companies. At various times he owned portions of Chrysler, GM and Ford between 1995 – 2009. Eventually he sold off his holdings and always drove an American car, including a Ford Taurus and Jeep Cherokee.
Armenia
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/jun/16/kirk-kerkorian-remembered-visionary-businessman-ph/
In December 1988 a massive earthquake struck Armenia and 50 thousand people died. Anonymously Kirk backed massive airlifts of supplies from California to Armenia. When he heard that the president of Armenia wanted to build a highway across the country, Kirk said “would $100 Million help?”. Unfortunately, some newspapers falsely reported that he had not helped the country. For the first time Kirk felt forced to make his role public. In 2005 during a bus trip from Armenia to Artzakh my husband and I remarked on the smooth surface of the road our bus was on. We were told it was the work of Kirk Kerkorian. We were surprised because, as American Armenians, we had no knowledge of all the work he had accomplished for Armenia. Kirk Kerkorian had become a hero in Armenia, but only under the agreement that there were no streets named after him and no monuments built to him. So, Armenia, following his orders waited until 2017, two years after his death, to issue a postage stamp in his honor and in 2018, the city of Gyumri, the hardest hit area from the earthquake erected a statue in his honor.
The Lincy Foundation, named after his two daughters, Linda and Tracy, donated more than a billion dollars over a decade for infrastructure projects in Armenia aside from the highway he helped to finance. This included funding for the reconstruction of schools and streets and the renovation of many museums, theaters and concert halls. The Lincy Foundation was dissolved in 2011 after 22 years of charitable spending.
The Private Man
Kirk Kerkorian refused to do interviews or be photographed and never made speeches. He frequented his casinos, went out to dinner, walked to meetings and drove himself in his Ford Taurus or Jeep. He was a fitness master, lifting weights into his 90s! He was always on time and despised anyone being late. He was calm and polite, unless you tried to cheat him. His handshake was as good as a contract. We should all be amazed by what someone with an eighth-grade education can accomplish when they see opportunities others cannot.
Kirk Kerkorian was one of a kind and a Remarkable Armenian!