NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Offers an entertaining look at Kerkorian's
outsize life... an interesting portrait of a billionaire." - Wall
Street Journal The rags-to-riches story of one of America's
wealthiest and least-known financial giants, self-made billionaire
Kirk Kerkorian-the daring aviator, movie mogul, risk-taker, and
business tycoon who transformed Las Vegas and Hollywood to become
one of the leading financiers in American business. Kerkorian
combined the courage of a World War II pilot, the fortitude of a
scrappy boxer, the cunning of an inscrutable poker player and an
unmatched genius for making deals. He never put his name on a
building, but when he died he owned almost every major hotel and
casino in Las Vegas. He envisioned and fostered a new industry -the
leisure business. Three times he built the biggest resort hotel in
the world. Three times he bought and sold the fabled MGM Studios,
forever changing the way Hollywood does business. His early life
began as far as possible from a place on the Forbes List of
Billionaires when he and his Armenian immigrant family lost their
farm to foreclosure. He was four. They arrived in Los Angeles
penniless and moved often, staying one step ahead of more
evictions. Young Kirk learned English on the streets of L.A., made
pennies hawking newspapers and dropped out after eighth grade. How
he went on to become one of the richest and most generous men in
America-his net worth as much as $20 billion-is a story largely
unknown to the world. That's because what Kerkorian valued most was
his privacy. His very private life turned to tabloid fodder late in
life when a former professional tennis player falsely claimed that
the eighty-five-year-old billionaire fathered her child. In this
engrossing biography, investigative reporter William C. Rempel digs
deep into Kerkorian's long-guarded history to introduce a man of
contradictions-a poorly educated genius for deal-making, an
extraordinarily shy man who made the boldest of business ventures,
a careful and calculating investor who was willing to bet
everything on a single roll of the dice. Unlike others of his
status and importance, Kerkorian made few public appearances and
strenuously avoided personal publicity. His friends and associates,
however, were some of the biggest names in business, entertainment,
and sports-among them Howard Hughes, Ted Turner, Steve Wynn,
Michael Milken, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Elvis
Presley, Mike Tyson, and Andre Agassi. When he died in 2015 two
years shy of the century mark, Kerkorian had outlived many of his
closest friends and associates. Now, Rempel meticulously pieces
together revealing fragments of Kerkorian's life, collected from
diverse sources-war records, business archives, court documents,
news clippings and the recollections and recorded memories of
longtime pals and relatives. In The Gambler, Rempel illuminates
this unknown, self-made man and his inspiring legacy as never
before.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
