We wouldn't blame Kirk Kerkorian if he never wanted to see another car for the rest of his life. The 91-year old investor has had a terrible time investing in Detroit automakers, first with GM and later with Ford. Today his investment corp. Tracinda announced that it's paring back on its holdings in Ford:
Bloomberg: Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp., retreating from a $1 billion bet on Ford Motor Co.'s revival, sold 7.3 million shares and said it may shed the rest of the stake to focus on gambling and energy.
Tracinda pared its holdings to 6.1 percent, or 133.5 million shares, according to a U.S. regulatory filing today. The shares were sold yesterday on the open market at an average price of $2.43, Tracinda said. They were bought for as much as $8.50.
So he's down in the neighborhood of 70%, a pretty big haircut on a $1 billion investment.
The language in the actual press release is pretty artful:
LOS ANGELES, CA—October 21, 2008—Tracinda Corporation today announced that 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.
