Who Owns Vegas

MGM Mirage

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Who Owns Vegas
Photo © Andrew Hudson
Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas
Last updated:
First published: October 2005


MGM MIRAGE, Inc.

Hotels: 13; Rooms: 35,948

Controlled by majority shareholder Kirk Kerkorian.

NYSE: MGM | mgmmirage.com | Hoovers profile | Wikipedia profile

News 4/20/10: MGM Mirage is proposing changing its name to MGM Resorts International. The decision will be made in June 2010.

Dec 2009: MGM Mirage opens the first three hotels in CityCenter: Vdara (12/1/09), Mandarin Oriental (12/4/09) with 392 hotel rooms and 227 condominiums; and the centerpiece Aria (12/16/09).

By far the largest player in Las Vegas, MGM MIRAGE controls half of the Las Vegas Strip. The majority shareholder is financier Kirk Kerkorian who owns about 51.65% through his private investment firm, Tracinda Corp.


Projects

Being built:

CityCenter

A 50/50 venture (through CityCenter Holdings LLC) between MGM Mirage and Dubai World (through subsidiary Infinity World Development Corp.), holding company for the emirate of Dubai.

The country's largest private construction project. Opening in phases from 2009 will be:

  • ARIA, a 4,004-room, 60-story tower designed by Cesar Pelli (Pelli Clarke Pelli) will be the main hub of CityCenter.
  • The Harmon Hotel and Residences, a 400-room hotel (2010).
  • Mandarin Oriental, another 400-room hotel with 207 condos called The Residences at Mandarin Oriental.
  • Vdara Condo Hotel. A 50-story ebony tower with about 1,495 condos that can be rented out as hotel rooms.
  • Veer Towers condos. Twin 37-story towers with 670 condos.

On Hold (as of 2010):

Unnamed 40-acre Strip/Sahara project

A 50/50 venture with Kerzner International (13% owned by Dubai World), who built the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. Situated on 40 acres on the north end of the Strip, opposite the Sahara and near the Stratosphere and Circus Circus.

The project was announced in June 2007 with a 2011 opening but was put on indefinite hold in October 2008.


History/Timeline

The company started in 1962 when Kirk Kerkorian — a fellow aviator and rival of Howard Hughes — bought his first Las Vegas land. The International hotel (today's Las Vegas Hilton) followed in 1969 and various hotels were bought and sold. The MGM MIRAGE name comes from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio (famous for the film Grand Hotel), which Kerkorian bought in 1969, and Mirage Resorts (Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio), which was acquired from Steve Wynn in 2000 for $6.4 billion.

In 2005, MGM MIRAGE bought Mandalay Resort Group (Circus Circus, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo) for $7.3 billion. Mandalay Resort Group started life as Circus Circus Enterprises, Inc. (1974-1999). Circus Circus was built by Jay Sarno and Stanley Mallin (who had previously opened Caesars Palace) but they ran into financial trouble. Starting in 1974 and completed in 1983, Del Webb casino manager William Bennett and partner Bill Pennington took over control and ownership of Circus Circus. Their company, Circus Circus Enterprises, went public in 1983. Bennett opened Excalibur (1990) and Luxor (1993) before retiring in 1995. (Bennett then bought the Sahara for $193 million). The company opened Monte Carlo (1996, a joint venture with MGM) and Mandalay Bay (1999), then renamed itself Mandalay Bay Resort Group (1999-2005) after the more upscale property.

May 2007: Forms subsidiary MGM Mirage Hospitality to pursue projects in international markets such as Abu Dhabi, China and the United Kingdom. The first such project is MGM Grand Macau, which opened in December 2007 and is a 50-50 joint-venture with Pansy Ho.

In August 2007, Dubai World, the holding company for the emirate of Dubai, invested about $5 billion in MGM Mirage. For that, Project CityCenter became a 50/50 venture between MGM Mirage and Dubai World (through subsidiary Infinity World Development Corp.), and Dubai World received about 9.5% equity stock of MGM Mirage.

In January 2009, MGM agreed to sell the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (2885 rooms, opened 1993) to Phil Ruffin for $775 million (including debt). Around June 2009, Monte Carlo's fire-damaged floor 32 was refurbished and rebranded as Hotel32.


Equity Holders of MGM MIRAGE
Kirk Kerkorian
through Tracinda Corp
53.9%
Dubai World
Through Infinity World Development Corp.
9.4%
Marsico Capital Mgmt LLC8.3%
Private Capital Mgmt Inc.6.1%
Capital Research and Mgmt Co.4.8%
There are about 293 mililion shares outstanding
More here

MGM MIRAGE Hotels in Las Vegas
Hotel Opened Rooms
Bellagio 1998 3,933
Circus Circus 1968 3,774
Excalibur 1990 3,991
Four Seasons 1999 424
Hotel32 2009 ?
Luxor 1993 4,407
Mandalay Bay 1999 3,309
Mansion at MGM 1999 29
MGM Grand 1993 5,044
The Mirage 1989 3,044
Monte Carlo
(includes Hotel32)
1996 3,002
New York-New York 1997 2,035
The Signature at MGM Grand 2006 1,728 condos
Skylofts 2005 51
THEhotel 2004 1,117
Total: 35,948


Notes:

  • Signature rooms are condo-hotel units.
  • The Boardwalk (654 rooms, 1968-2007) closed in January 2006 and was imploded in May 2006.
  • Treasure Island (2885 rooms, opened 1993) was sold to Phil Ruffin in 2009.

Constructing: CityCenter
Hotel Opening RoomsOwnership
ARIA Resort and Casino 2009 4,004 50% with Dubai World
Harmon Hotel and Spa 2010 400 50% with Dubai World
Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas 2009 400
+ 207 condos
50% with Dubai World
Vdara 2009 1,495 50% with Dubai World
Veer Towers 2009 670 condos 50% with Dubai World
Total: 6,299
+ 884 condos

Note: Harmon will be operated and managed by
The Light Group in partnership with Zabeel Investments.


Proposed or On Hold
Hotel Opening Rooms
Unnamed Kerzner Project 2011 ? 50% with Kerzner
The Place at Mandalay Bay Casino ? 1,344
Two more towers at Signature ? 1,152
Total: 2,496

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Copyright © 2005–2011 Andrew Hudson for Photo Tour Books, Inc. Written for A Photo Tour of Las Vegas. You may reproduce this article for personal, educational, non-commercial and non-Internet use, such as in a hobbyist newsletter or school project. No Internet publishing is permitted. For commercial use, please email Andrew Hudson for permission.