On the heels of Ford’s strong first quarter, Kirk Kerkorian — a perpetual investor in the auto industry — has announced he plans to up his stake in the Blue Oval by 20 million shares. Kerkorian’s company, Tracinda Corp., currently owns 100 million shares in Ford — representing a 4.7 percent stake — but the bump to 120 million shares will increase Tracinda’s stake to 5.6 percent.
Kerkorian is no stranger to the Big 3. Before Chrysler’s sale to Daimler, Kerkorian was the Michigan-based automaker’s largest shareholder.
Kerkorian was also the driving force between General Motor’s talks with Nissan. At one time, Kerkorian owned a 10 percent stake in GM.
It remains unclear why Kerkorian feels it is the right time to invest in Ford — considering the slumping market and looming CAFE standards — but the 90 year old billionaire no doubt has something up his sleeve.
04/28, 12:49 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Whoaaaa – I didn’t catch any typos! At least not at first blush.
04/28, 12:52 PM
posted by:
441Zuke
this guy is a bastard, he will ruin ford…. well strangle what little progress they have made in the cradle. Nissan, Renault and Ford do not need to be together. ford is finally getting it’s **** together and this would be terrible.
04/28, 1:06 PM
posted by:
Bubs Solo
I agree with you Zuke
04/28, 1:21 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
At 90 years old the only thing Kerkorian has up his sleeve is the intravenous line.
04/28, 1:23 PM
posted by:
roger426
Kerkorian isnt even a car guy…he has a firebird, tuaras, and a jeep cherokee in his garage…if you were worth 16 billion would you be driving any of those vehicles.
04/28, 1:27 PM
posted by:
xyunya
Kerkorian is WWII ace. Besides being a billionaire he flew Mustangs in combat, can any of you have balls to do that? Anyone served in Armed Forces lately?
04/28, 1:33 PM
posted by:
roger426
^^Kerkorian delivered mesquito bombers from labrador to scotland…He didnt fly mustangs in combat.
04/28, 1:41 PM
posted by:
xyunya
You are correct, my mistake. I thought he was an ace. Nevertheless he flew for Allies and delivered planes over Atlantic with considerable risk to himself. Anyone braver here?
04/28, 1:44 PM
posted by:
roger426
I would have to say no…
04/28, 1:50 PM
posted by:
xyunya
@82 Hugh Heffner having great parties in his mansion. Was anyone young and energetic invited to the party lately? Never mind that Kerkorian is of age, he is still an earner (and we don’t know age of his mistresses).
04/28, 2:09 PM
posted by:
ARMY Strong
xyunya, i am a iraq vet and still serving strong 1 infantry division.
04/28, 2:12 PM
posted by:
HoosierHero
Xyungya, smoking crack lately? What the hell does any of your posts have to do with anything? Big ****ing deal he delivered planes, saved babies, smacked Hitler…this is about what he is/can/will do to Ford. Personally I think it’s a good sign. He wouldn’t be investing heavily in them if he didn’t see something worthwhile- now whether that’s them turning things around or him wanting to sell it off to some equity firm is another story!
04/28, 2:23 PM
posted by:
Scarface03
I think Kerkorkian is surrounded by too much hype. Let him up his stake to 5.6%–that’s not enough to make any difference. It’ll be GM all over again. He was very vocal about GM’s need to merge with (at least “talk with”) Nissan, but in the end none of his share-buying 90-year-old shoutin’ ways made a dent in the commitment of either company.
LLN says Kirk’s got something up his sleeve. As observed by our Canadian friend, johnnycanuck, just like that IV up his sleeve, whatever his Ford plans are, they’re for his benefit only. What on earth could Kirk do to help out Ford?
04/28, 2:25 PM
posted by:
400horseSS
xyunya, I dont care.
04/28, 2:27 PM
posted by:
400horseSS
All this will do is boost Ford’s terrible ass stock for a couple weeks just GM’s awhile back.
04/28, 2:42 PM
posted by:
LaCaLover
He’s 90 what does he care. He probably has ALzheimers by now
04/28, 3:00 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Piss & moan all you want – the man knows what he’s doing.
04/28, 3:44 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
…but why is he doing it? He’s f*cking 90 for gawd’s sake. Somebody mentioned Heffner. Now that’s what he should be doing. I’d rather die with a smile on my face than have it all end worrying about some bs car shares.
04/28, 4:18 PM
posted by:
441Zuke
I don’t care if he rode a bomb into a nazi base A La Dr. Stranglove, that has no bearing on this discussion. he is not a car person, all he wants to do is have Renault by a stake in ford so it drives up the stock so it can buy it off. Ford is doing better and will have a more competitive line up in less then three years.
04/28, 4:20 PM
posted by:
441Zuke
sorry so he can sell off his shares at a premium
04/28, 7:17 PM
posted by:
sharpie
Great Estate planning for a 90 years old billionaire!
04/30, 12:39 AM
posted by:
AMGoff
I don’t understand why anyone would be upset about this… a blind, wealthy monkey could do better than the Ford family. The entire company has risen and fallen at their feet.