American businessman who built Las Vegas's largest hotels, controlled MGM Studios multiple times, and gave over $1B to Armenia — a self-made billionaire who started as a charter pilot.
Las Vegas as Kerkorian's canvas: Kerkorian built the International Hotel (then the world's largest), the MGM Grand Hotel (then the world's largest), and the Bellagio (as backer) — repeatedly breaking his own records for scale. His acquisition and divestiture of MGM Studios (three separate times) is the most complex studio ownership story in Hollywood history. As a self-taught pilot and aircraft broker, he first made money on trans-Atlantic charter flights for Hollywood figures. His philanthropy to Armenia ($1B+) is the largest per-capita contribution to any nation by a single private individual.
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