Smooth Operator

The father of the Las Vegas 'mega-resort', Kirk Kerkorian reshaped the landscape of the City of Lights almost single-handedly.

He's 89 years old and one of America's richest men, with his wealth estimated at $9.3 billion.

A former World War Two pilot, who started a charter company with an old Cessna, Kerkorian flew to his future stomping ground for the first time in July 1945. Vegas immediately agreed with Kerkorian. One day, while deciding whether he should spend his last $5 on breakfast, he decided instead to visit the craps table. A short while later he was up $700.

With his fortunes rising, Kerkorian bought 80 acres of land, cut off from the strip by the a band of undeveloped property, for a bargain price. Then he began trading acres with various landowners of the unused property. In a little while he'd created prime Las Vegas real estate. "That's how Caesars Palace got started," Kerkorian said. He made a cool $4 million in rent before selling the land to Caesars for another $5 million in 1968.

After expanding his charter business and taking it public, he sold the company in exchange for $85 million worth of stock in TransAmerica. Kerkorian then embarked on his most auspicious project yet - building Vegas' first mega-resort: The International. With 30 stories it became the worlds largest hotel.

Meanwhile he bought another Las Vegas hotel to use as a training facility for staff to graduate to the International - the famous Flamingo Hotel. It posted record profits of $3 million in it's first year.

"When you're a self made man, you start very early in life. In my case it was at nine years old," he says. His first job was as a salesman on the streets of a Depression hit Los Angeles. Kerkorian believes "You get a drive that's a little different, maybe a little stronger, than somebody who's inherited it."

When MGM announced it was diversifying into entertainment property, who better to be at the helm than Kerkorian? Opened in December 1973, the MGM Grand was even bigger than the International. For seven years it prospered until a devastating fire broke out in 1980, killing 87. Kerkorian started an ambitious reconstruction project and just eight months later, the hotel was open for business once again.