Las Vegas Weekly

February 11, 2013 · 2 AM

Resort pioneer Kirk Kerkorian is back on the market

By John Katsilometes

Photo: Joe Cavaretta

Photo: AP

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian is pictured in Las Vegas in this Feb. 24, 2005, file photo.

In love, as in the development and expansion of an international resort corporation, timing is paramount. So it is that we note, on the week of Valentine’s Day, Kirk Kerkorian is once more the country’s most eligible bachelor.

The 95-year-old Kerkorian was reportedly engaged in September, but we can reliably impart that his relationship status has changed to “single.”

Kerkorian has what is known in the dating world as “game.” He has been a pioneer in the development of mega-resorts in Las Vegas. Kerkorian built the International Hotel (later the Las Vegas Hilton and today LVH) on Paradise Road in 1969, built the original MGM Grand (now Bally's) in 1971, is the former owner of Desert Inn and opened the current MGM Grand at Tropicana and the Strip in 1993. Kerkorian also owned the Strip parcel on which Caesars Palace was built by Jay Sarno in 1966.

Today, Kerkorian is the president/CEO of Tracinda Corp., his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Kerkorian is an unfailingly private person, especially for a public figure. He has been married three times, but there is no question his influence on Las Vegas has been … singular.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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