Kirk Kerkorian
Auto industry
### Auto industry

Kerkorian had an on\-again/off\-again relationship with the American auto industry. His involvement began in 1995 when with the assistance of retired Chrysler chairman and CEO [Lee Iacocca](/wiki/Lee_Iacocca "Lee Iacocca"), Kerkorian staged a takeover attempt of the [Chrysler Corporation](/wiki/Chrysler_Corporation "Chrysler Corporation"). Chrysler's management treated the takeover as hostile, and after a lengthy battle, Kerkorian canceled his plans and sold his Chrysler stake in 1996\. As part of the settlement, Iacocca was placed under a gag order forbidding him from discussing Chrysler in public or print for five years. Two years later, Chrysler management agreed to be acquired by German automaker [Daimler\-Benz](/wiki/Daimler-Benz "Daimler-Benz"). Kerkorian always drove an American vehicle, including a Ford Taurus and Jeep Cherokee.

Kerkorian once owned 9\.9 percent of [General Motors](/wiki/General_Motors "General Motors") (GM). According to press accounts from June 30, 2006, Kerkorian suggested that [Renault](/wiki/Renault "Renault") acquired a 20 percent stake in GM to rescue GM from itself. A letter from Tracinda to [Rick Wagoner](/wiki/Rick_Wagoner "Rick Wagoner") was released to the public, to pressure GM's executive hierarchy, but talks failed. On November 22, 2006, Kerkorian sold 14 million shares of his GM stake (it is speculated that this action was due to GM's rejection of Renault and Nissan's bids for stakes in the company as both of these bids were strongly supported by Kerkorian); the sale resulted in GM's share price falling 4\.1% from its November 20 price, although it remained above $30/share. The sale lowered Kerkorian's holding to around 7% of GM. On November 30, 2006, Tracinda said it had agreed to sell another 14 million shares of GM, cutting Kerkorian's stake to half of what it had been earlier that year. By the end of November 2006, he had sold substantially all of his remaining GM shares. After Kerkorian sold, GM lost more than 90% of its value, falling as low as $1/share by May 2009, and filed bankruptcy on June 1, 2009\.

On April 5, 2007, Kirk Kerkorian made a $4\.58 billion bid for the [Chrysler Group](/wiki/Chrysler "Chrysler"), the U.S. arm of [Daimler\-Chrysler](/wiki/DaimlerChrysler "DaimlerChrysler"). After Daimler\-Chrysler announced they were interested in selling the Chrysler division on February 14, large investors such as [Cerberus Capital Management](/wiki/Cerberus_Capital_Management "Cerberus Capital Management"), [The Blackstone Group](/wiki/The_Blackstone_Group "The Blackstone Group") and [Magna International](/wiki/Magna_International "Magna International") each announced intentions to bid on the company. Kerkorian's bid, while not expected, was not surprising given his long involvement in the U.S. automobile industry. During the bidding process, he sought the aid of his close associate [Jerome York](/wiki/Jerome_York "Jerome York") who was a former CFO at both Chrysler and [IBM](/wiki/IBM "IBM"). On May 14, 2007, 80% of the Chrysler arm of Daimler\-Chrysler was sold to Cerberus for $7\.4 billion.

Kerkorian began buying [Ford Motor Company](/wiki/Ford_Motor_Company "Ford Motor Company") stock in April 2008, and spent about $1 billion to accumulate a 6% stake in the automaker. By October 2008, the investment had lost two\-thirds of its value, and he began selling. Tracinda explained, "In light of current economic and market conditions, it sees unique value in the gaming and hospitality and oil and gas industries and has, therefore, decided to reallocate its resources and to focus on those industries."

On October 21, Tracinda sold the 7\.3 million Ford shares at an average price of $2\.43, and said it planned to cut further its existing 6\.1 percent stake in Ford, for a potential total loss of more than half a billion dollars. Kerkorian sold his remaining stake in Ford on December 29, 2008\.


How much of its value had Kerkorian's investment in Ford lost by October 2008?