Semi-Retired-Dave

I've looked up to Kirk Kerkorian for as long as I can remember. Read up on his story when you have time. Amazing!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Kerkorian

Second Idol has been Richard Branson. From Music label to Airlines, this guy is Brilliant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson

Third is the Donald.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump
Too much of an ego, but the way he recovered from his last bankruptcy and came back
was pretty smart.

Anyone you guys look up to for Motivation?

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Domain Diva

Actually Im motivated by Don King... strange I know but that guy could promote and market the local egg and spoon race and turn it into a main event ......Id hate to think the amount of $$ he has stashed away too.

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marketsmart

i look at john holmes for inspiration...

you can have a huge cock and fuck lots of hot bitches, but if you dont watch yourself, you can end up getting fucked in the ass and die of aids...







.

notime

Branson seems to want to build a solid and reliable brand. I like that spirit.
The 1st guy I don't know and the 3rd (I read his book too) I have yet to form an opinion on him.

Semi-Retired-Dave

Yup, Branson is all about Branding. There is something fishy about Trump, and I'm not talking about his hair.

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Semi-Retired-Dave

First guy is the legend behind MGM.

Kerkorian and Las Vegas

In 1962, Kerkorian bought 80 acres (32.3 hectares) in Las Vegas, across The Strip from the Flamingo, for $960,000. This purchase led to the building of Caesars Palace, which rented the land from Kerkorian; the rent and eventual sale of the land to Caesars in 1968 made Kerkorian $9 million.

In 1967, he bought 82 acres (33 hectares) of land on Paradise Road in Las Vegas for $5 million and, with architect Martin Stern, Jr.,[6] built the International Hotel, which at the time was the largest hotel in the world; The first two performers to appear at the hotel's enormous Showroom Internationale were Barbra Streisand and Elvis Presley. Presley brought in some 4,200 customers (and potential gamblers), every day, for 30 days straight, breaking in the process all attendance records in the county's history. Kerkorian's International Leisure also bought the Flamingo Hotel (which later sold the Flamingo to the Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1970). The International Hotel is known today as the Las Vegas Hilton. Until about 2000, the Flamingo was known as the Flamingo Hilton.

In 1969 he purchased MGM, the famous movie studio. Again with architect Martin Stern Jr., Kerkorian and MGM opened the original MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, larger than the Empire State Building[7] and the largest hotel in the world at the time it was finished. On November 21, 1980, the original MGM Grand burned in a fire that was one of the worst disasters in Las Vegas history. The Las Vegas Fire Department reported 84 deaths in the fire; there were 87 deaths total, including three which occurred later as a result of injuries sustained in the fire. Amazingly, the MGM Grand reopened after only 8 months. Almost three months after the MGM fire, the Las Vegas Hilton caught fire, killing eight people.

In 1986, Kerkorian sold the MGM Grand hotels in Las Vegas and Reno for $594 million to Bally. The Las Vegas property was subsequently renamed Bally's. Spun off from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM Mirage owns and operates several properties, including the Bellagio, the current MGM Grand resort complex, The Mirage, the New York-New York, Circus Circus, Mandalay Bay, The Luxor, Excalibur and the newly completed CityCenter in Las Vegas.

MGM sold its Treasure Island Hotel and Casino property to billionaire and former New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin for $750 million.[8]
[edit] MGM

In 1969, Kerkorian appointed James T. Aubrey, Jr. as president of MGM. Aubrey downsized the struggling MGM and sold off massive amounts of historical memorabilia, including Dorothy's ruby slippers (from The Wizard of Oz), the majority of the studio's backlots in Culver City and overseas operations such as the British MGM studio at Borehamwood. Kerkorian sold MGM's distribution system in 1973, and gradually distanced himself from the daily operation of the studio. In 1979, Kerkorian issued a statement claiming that MGM was now primarily a hotel company; however, he also managed to expand the overall film library and production system with the purchase of United Artists in 1981. In 1986 he sold the studios to Ted Turner.

Turner kept ownership of the combined MGM/UA for just 74 days. Both studios had huge debts and Turner simply could not afford to keep them under those circumstances; to recoup his investment, he sold all of United Artists and the MGM trademark back to Kerkorian. The studio lot was sold to Lorimar-Telepictures, which was later acquired by Warner Bros.; in 1990, the lot was sold to Sony Corporation's Columbia TriStar Pictures in exchange for the half of Warner's lot they'd rented since the 1970s. Also in 1990, the MGM studio was purchased by Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti, but Parretti defaulted on the loans he'd used to buy the studio, leaving the studio in the hands of the French bank, Credit Lyonnais. Credit Lyonnais invested significant sums to revive the moribund studio and eventually sold it back to Kerkorian in 1996.

In 2005 Kerkorian sold MGM once more to a consortium led by Sony. He retained a 55% stake in MGM Mirage.

On 22 November 2006 Kerkorian's Tracinda investment corporation offered to buy 15 million shares of MGM Mirage to increase his stake in the gambling giant to 61.7% from 56.3%, if approved.[9]

In May 2009 following the completion of a $1 billion dollar stock offering by MGM Mirage, Kerkorian and Tracinda lost their majority ownership of the gaming company, dropping from 53.8 percent to 39 percent and even after pledging to purchase 10 percent of the new stock offering they now remain minority owners.[10][11]

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dyna mo

i will read up on the 1st 2, pretty much dig trump already. thanks for the links.

i've split my inspirational heroes into 5 categories-

spiritual- ghandi
funny- curly
macho- clint
unique success- shwartzenegger
creativity- dali

wargames

I see my uncle made the list

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$5 submissions

For motivation, I look to Warren Buffet

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Semi-Retired-Dave

Nice list there bud.

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Semi-Retired-Dave

Your uncle has always been number one on my list.

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notime

That seems to be a wise man who earned much money.

But still, I like Branson better for building something from nothing, where he wants to uphold a brand no matter what, keep the reputation AAA status and dedicate to customer service. Long term plans attract me more personally then all these recent quick fixes and be-goners tommorrow to be honest.

dyna mo

yeah, when he talks, i listen. but i find i don't have anything i can relate to with him, he was pretty much destined since a kid to be a financial wizard, i just wanted to ride my bike a lot while he was making stock trades! llolololol


:-)

Semi-Retired-Dave

I still ride my bikes while he is making Stock Trades.

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Semi-Retired-Dave

He started out as a boxer, and his job was installing wall furnaces.


Kirk Kerkorian was born on June 6, 1917 in Fresno, California, to Armenian immigrant parents.[3] Dropping out of school in 8th grade, he became a fairly skilled amateur boxer under the tutelage of his older brother, fighting under the name "Rifle Right Kerkorian" to win the Pacific amateur welterweight championship.

In 1939, he met Ted O'Flaherty, for whom he installed wall furnaces that heated water. O'Flaherty was taking flying lessons, and having taken no interest Kerkorian took a guest seat one day and was converted on the views of the Californian coast.

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TeenCat

impossible targets, i am motivated by other webmasters and i am trying my best

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okok

I'll add a few that are outside the realm of business and investing:

Philip K. Dick's writing inspires me to take nothing for granted, least of all my own perception, and to work to peel away layers of assumed reality to keep looking for truth.

I admire Sid Meier, creator of the computer game Civilization, for having such a clear vision that he has been able to delegate game design in four sequels-- each having that magic combination of new features while remaining firmly rooted in the concepts that made the first version so deep and replayable. Not to mention the balls he has to gamble on the new designer's push to turn the game's familiar 20-year-old combat system completely on its head.

I admire Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics, for questioning baseball dogma, creating a novel approach to scouting talent in a domain rich with unquestioned notions. At first, he was considered crazy. Now, everyone subscribes to the paradigm he created.

Barefootsies

Agreed.

I have seen a number of his interviews, and bio. What he has accomplished is really incredible. Especially since he comes off as such a laid back guy, openly admitting he smokes the cheeba and has kind of a wild west mentality. I like that.

It's much more exciting then the calculated bean counters.

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Enough Said.

"Would you rather live like a king for a year or like a prince forever?"

CaptainHowdy

...

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Klen

Me too.I wonder how he managed to make a lot of money while he was still in high school.

fatfoo

Wikipedia has many biographies of famous people.

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Grapesoda

napolean hill

dyna mo

i've read the book and highlighted so much of it, pretty much the entire text is colored in either yellow or light blue!