Around the same time as Hughes, in the 1960s, another billionaire came to Las Vegas who seemed to embody the opposite qualities – Kirk Kirkorian.
Coming from a family of poor Armenian immigrants, Kirk became interested in boxing early on, was involved in small business and was fond of aviation (in this he coincided with Hughes). During World War II, Kirkorian was hired to ferry military planes across the Atlantic Ocean by the shortest route, without transfers. This was extremely dangerous. Every fortieth plane did not reach its destination, so the pilot was paid a thousand dollars per flight. In total, Kirkorian ferried 33 planes. The money he earned became start-up capital when, after the war, he decided to go into the charter air transportation business. One of his activities was transporting passengers from California to Las Vegas and back. At first, Kirkorian himself was carried away by the game and wasted a lot of money in casinos, until one day he decided that from now on he would only make money on games.
Since the early 1960s, having earned a sufficient amount in the aviation business, he began to buy casinos in Las Vegas and Reno. His “entry” into Nevada was careful – in contrast to the rapid arrival of Hughes. This is what determined Kirkorian’s longer stay in the gaming industry – almost a quarter of a century. However, he was very careful in business: he bought hotels (they were also casinos) and immediately sold them. His strongest move was the construction of the International Hotel, at the opening of which in 1969 Barbra Streisand and Elvis Presley himself performed, who held 58 concerts in a row, breaking all attendance records. Kirkorian signed a contract with him for a million dollars a year, according to which the singer was obliged to perform at his place for two months a year, thereby attracting guests.
If Hughes entered the film business at the beginning of his career, then Kirkorian turned to Hollywood when he was already over fifty. He bought the MGM film company in the same 1969, and made it the brand of his hotel in Las Vegas, opened in 1973, at that time the largest in the world. In 1980, the billionaire suffered an unexpected blow – 84 people died in a terrible fire at the MGM hotel. But eight months later the hotel was restored and reopened. In 1986, Kirkorian sold his hotels in Nevada for $594 million and finally left the gambling business.