The Gambler: How Penniless Dropout Kirk Kerkorian Became The Greatest Deal Maker In Capitalist History

  • Autor: William C. Rempel
  • Narrador: Fred Sanders
  • Editora: HarperCollins USA
  • Duração: 13:02:47
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Sinopse

“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.

Capítulos

  • 001 The Gambler

    Duração: 43s
  • 002 A Note to Readers

    Duração: 11min
  • 003 Prologue

    Duração: 08min
  • 004 Part I Chapter 01

    Duração: 10min
  • 005 Chapter 02

    Duração: 55min
  • 006 Chapter 03

    Duração: 12min
  • 007 Chapter 04

    Duração: 07min
  • 008 Chapter 05

    Duração: 18min
  • 009 Chapter 06

    Duração: 15min
  • 010 Chapter 07

    Duração: 17min
  • 011 Chapter 08

    Duração: 08min
  • 012 Chapter 09

    Duração: 11min
  • 013 Chapter 10

    Duração: 10min
  • 014 Chapter 11

    Duração: 15min
  • 015 Chapter 12

    Duração: 21min
  • 016 Part II Chapter 13

    Duração: 24min
  • 017 Chapter 14

    Duração: 26min
  • 018 Chapter 15

    Duração: 20min
  • 019 Chapter 16

    Duração: 13min
  • 020 Chapter 17

    Duração: 14min
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