Month: June 2005

Veto dropped in draft for new UN Council members
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS, June 8 (Reuters) – Germany, Japan, Brazil and India on
Wednesday dropped the right to a veto for new permanent U.N. Security
Council members in their revised draft resolution to expand the
15-member prestigious body.
The four nations, contenders for permanent council seats, want the
U.N. General Assembly to adopt a framework resolution as early as
this month that would add 10 new members to the council, six permanent
members and four nonpermanent ones.
The council currently has five permanent members, which would keep
their veto power, and 10 nonpermanent members rotating for two-year
terms.
“On the veto, it has become clear that the question of its extension
to the new permanent members is best dealt with by the general
membership” in a review 15 years after the proposed changes come into
force, said a covering letter to the new draft resolution by the four
nations who want permanent seats in a new expanded Security Council.
Consideration of the veto is now postponed until a review in 15 years.
France, one of the current five Security Council permanent members, on
Wednesday announced it would co-sponsor the resolution.
NEW MOMENTUM
The new draft resolution was circulated to 191 General Assembly
members, who must vote by a two-thirds majority to expand the council
after 12 years of debate. The effort was given new momentum this year
by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as part of his overall reform of
the world body.
Annan argued that the Security Council, which rules on war and peace,
sanctions and peacekeeping operations, still reflects the balance of
power at the end of World War Two.
The second step, which needs another resolution and also a two-thirds
majority in the Assembly, is to fill in the names of the contenders
for permanent seats, which will include two nations from Africa.
And the third step involves a change in the U.N. Charter, which must
be approved by two-thirds of the legislatures around the world,
including the current five veto-wielding Security Council powers —
the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. Should
two-thirds of the world’s nations approve the changes, a veto by the
five would prove embarrassing.
Japan, diplomats said, was considering delaying a vote on the
framework resolution from June to July, to make sure enough countries
were supporting it. But German envoys said Berlin opposed this.
Diplomats speculate the four contenders have about 100 votes and
needed another 30 or so for the initial resolution. Should a second
vote take place on who should fill the seats, the envoys said Germany
faces the least opposition while Muslim nations are expected to
organize against India.
FIVE POWERS ARE SPLIT
Among the current five council powers, France and Britain support the
candidacies of Germany, Japan, India and Brazil as new permanent
members. China opposes any seat for Japan and Russia’s position is
unclear.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has been organizing
teleconferences with her counterparts among the five, has said
Washington supports Japan. But adding only Japan in the council would
be defeated easily in the General Assembly, which wants seats for
developing nations.
“We have no position. We support Japan but it needs to be handled
judiciously,” Anne Patterson, the acting U.S. ambassador, told Reuters
on Tuesday.
A second plan is favored by Italy, Algeria, Mexico, Canada, Pakistan,
South Korea, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Kenya, Mexico, Spain,
Turkey and others.
This group has not put down a resolution and also calls for expanding
the council from 15 to 25 members. This proposal has no permanent
seats but longer terms for some nonpermanent members.
06/08/05 18:07 ET

A1plus
| 14:57:34 | 08-06-2005 | Social |
PARTICIPANTS OF THE MEETING BESIEGED THE PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE
This morning from 10:00 a.m. numerous policemen defended the Presidential
Residence from the participants of the demonstration. They were the
residents of several center streets (North Avenue, Buzand, Koghbaci, Erznka
streets and Kond) who are evicted from their houses because of the
construction works realized `for state needs’. They had difference posters
in their hands. Their main question to Robert Kocharyan was, `Where shall we
go?’ `We were evicted `for state needs’, said the other poster.
The residents of the North Avenue who have been struggling for the last 1.5
year to restore their violated rights turn to Kocharyan, `We have received
too little money with which we cannot buy houses. We are left shelterless’.
The 2 000 dollars given to each person during the eviction is not enough to
buy a house even in the suburbs of Yerevan. `I was given 3 500 dollars. What
can I do with that sum?’ said a 67-year-old woman who has lived most of his
life in the North Avenue.
Although there is no construction and eviction program in the Kond district
(yet), the residents of that district have reasons to join the
demonstration. `We have fears that tomorrow we will deserve the same fate’.
It is already the second year that in the Kond district the privatization
documents are not given to the residents, and young people returning from
the army or getting married are not registered in their houses. This will
provide a small number of people registered in the district and thus, small
sums of money given to people. By the way, in Kond about 130 thousand people
live today.

A1plus
| 14:41:37 | 08-06-2005 | Official |
TO BE ELECTED BY THE NEW LAW
On June 7 Robert Kocharyan signed the law on amending the RA Electoral Code.

Billionaire Kerkorian boosts GM stake to 7.2 percent
Agence France Presse
June 8, 2005
NEW YORK (AFP) — Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian boosted his stake in
General Motors to 7.2 percent following last month’s surprise share
offer for the struggling auto giant, his holding company announced.
Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp. said the offer, which expired at midnight
Tuesday, resulted in the purchase of an estimated 18.9 million GM shares.
As a result, the 87-year-old Kerkorian, a casino magnate who has bought
and sold MGM studios and was once Chrysler Corp.’s largest shareholder,
has nearly doubled his holding in GM from 3.89 percent.
Kerkorian stunned financial markets May 4 with his offer of 31 dollars a
share for GM, at the time 13 percent above the market price.
Tracinda indicated at the time that the move was “solely for investment
purposes.”
Analysts said that the move appeared to be a vote of confidence in the
world’s biggest automaker, which has been in turmoil over eroding market
share in the United States and growing financial uncertainties, but that
it may also signal some effort to influence GM’s board or management.
GM shares rallied 4.2 percent to close Wednesday at 32.02.
The lack of sellers handing over their shares to Kerkorian shows that
despite its flaws, investors still have faith in the auto giant,
according to Michael Metz, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer
and Co.
“If (the tender offer) had been oversubscribed, I think the stock would
have gone lower,” Metz said.
“There wasn’t an excessive supply coming out at that price, so
technically that’s a good sign. I also think the Street is taking the
restructuring news favorably.”
On Tuesday, GM said it would cut at least 25,000 jobs, or 13.8 percent
of its US workforce, by 2008 to generate 2.5 billion dollars in annual
savings. The company also announced plans to close additional assembly
and component plants to help get GM North America back to profitability.
JP Morgan analyst Himanshu Patel said that the offer effectively places
a floor for the stock.
“Kerkorian’s tender offer provides some downside support as it should
remove some/many of the sellers of the stock below 31 dollars a share,”
he wrote in a note reiterating his overweight rating.
But of the 16 Wall Street analysts covering the stock, only four
maintain a buy rating, according to Thomson First Call.
Bernard Klawans, fund manager for the Valley Forge Fund, remained
unconvinced about GM’s prospects.
“Kerkorian is just another investor,” he said. “General Motors is in
trouble. I don’t see their management doing anything but waving flags.
Yesterday’s news isn’t anything to get excited about; it’s actually very
discouraging.”
“While it is encouraging that GM management is contemplating a lower
cost structure for the North American business, we do not believe that
much new information was revealed and GM’s commitments so far fall short
of what’s required,” said Rod Lache at Deutsche Bank.
“We expect GM North America to lose 3.2 billion dollars this year on a
pre-tax basis. Given the magnitude of the anticipated losses (and GM’s
current stock price), we believe the Street expects GM to make an
aggressive and credible restructuring announcement by year-end.”
;cid=1503&ncid=1503&e=2&u=/afp/20050608/ts_afp/usautogmstocks_050608215331

Yemenidjian quits MGM Mirage board to pursue gaming projects
LAS VEGAS SUN
June 08, 2005
By Liz Benston, [email protected]
MGM Mirage Director Alex Yemenidjian — a longtime lieutenant of
majority shareholder Kirk Kerkorian — has resigned from the company’s
board and intends to strike out on his own in the gaming industry.
Yemenidjian is the former chairman and chief executive of movie studio
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., which was recently sold to a consortium led by
Sony Corp. of America.
In an interview, Yemenidjian said he wants to be an owner rather than
simply an executive.
“In the next stage of my career, I prefer to be a principal,” he said.
He previously served as the former president and chief operating officer
of MGM Grand, the predecessor to MGM Mirage. Kerkorian brought
Yemenidjian over from MGM Grand to lead his movie empire in 1999.
Yemenidjian could become a potential competitor to his former boss, who
gained further influence when MGM Mirage acquired Mandalay Resort Group
for $8 billion last month and created the biggest casino company in Nevada.
He has known the billionaire investor for 16 years and has been a top
executive for Kerkorian for more than a decade.
Yemenidjian said he leaves MGM Mirage “with a sense of sadness, as so
much of my heart and history are tied up with this company.”
He wouldn’t specify his plans in the gaming industry, saying there’s
“nothing definitive at the moment.”
“I don’t feel geographically constrained,” he said. “I wouldn’t rule out
any particular opportunity.”
The casino business is a natural move, he said.
“I know a little bit about the gaming industry and I feel more
comfortable with it,” he said. “Ever since I have been in the industry I
can’t remember a bad time to pursue an opportunity.”
Yemenidjian will continue to serve on the board of Kerkorian’s Beverly
Hills-based charity, called the Lincy Foundation.
“We continue to be great friends,” he said of Kerkorian.
In a statement, MGM Mirage Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Lanni said
the company will “miss Alex’s wealth of experience and wise counsel” but
said the industry “will be stronger when he resumes his active involvement.”
MGM Mirage officials wouldn’t disclose Yemenidjian’s future plans or
could not be reached for comment by press time.
Deutsche Bank stock analyst Marc Falcone said he would expect to hear
details about the executive’s plans soon.
“He has been a very important part of the development of MGM Mirage over
the last 10 years or so,” Falcone said. “We think that he brings some
very important qualities and characteristics to the gaming industry.”

Billionaire Kerkorian raises stake in GM
By Bernard Simon in Toronto
FT
June 8 2005 17:31
Investors drove General Motors’ shares higher on Wednesday after a
tepid response to a tender offer launched by Kirk Kerkorian, the
reclusive billionaire.
Tracinda, Mr Kerkorian’s investment company, disclosed that only 18.9m
shares had been tendered at the offer price of $31, far fewer than the
28m Mr Kerkorian had sought. Tracinda now owns 7.2 per cent of GM’s
stock, compared with a possible 8.9 per cent if the offer had been
fully subscribed.
The 88 year-old Mr Kerkorian, who made his name as a corporate raider
in the casino and automotive sectors, has given no indication of his
next move. Tracinda has until now insisted that it would be a passive
investor, but few analysts have believed it.
`I don’t think he’s ever made a passive investment in his life,’ said
David Healy, analyst at Burnham Securities.
Ten years ago, Mr Kerkorian made an audacious attempt to buy Chrysler,
the third-biggest US carmaker. The attempt failed, but he was left
with a large block of shares that he sold at a hefty profit.
`At this point, he’s a minor nuisance to GM management,’ MrHealy said.
Himanshu Patel, analyst at JP Morgan, added `the fact that the tender
offer was under-subscribed by a relatively large degree raises the
prospect that Tracinda may raise its price’.
Mr Kerkorian’s offer of $31 was almost one-fifth above GM’s share
price when the offer was made in early May. The stock gained 5.2 per
cent to $32.32 shortly before midday on Wednesday.
Rick Wagoner, GM chief executive, unveiled a four-pronged strategy on
Tuesday to revive the company’s fortunes, including a new stable of
cars and trucks, a revamped sales and marketing strategy for GM’s
eight brands, plant closures, and an attack on spiralling healthcare
costs.
But many analysts remain bearish citing, among other factors, the
carmaker’s continuing market share losses in North America, its heavy
exposure to gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles, and its high fixed
costs.
`The situation at GM is going to get a lot worse before it gets
better,’ Mr Healy said. Rob Hinchliffe, analyst at UBS Securities, is
projecting a share price of $20. `GM needs a more aggressive plan to
restructure the business,’ Mr Hinchliffe said on Wednesday.
The lukewarm response to Mr Kerkorian’s offer suggests however that
many investors share his view that the market has under-estimated GM’s
value.
Describing the prospects for GM as `fairly balanced’, Michael
Bruynesteyn of Prudential Equity projected a further rise in the
stock.
Mr Bruynesteyn said he was swayed by the likelihood that GM would
maintain its $2-a-share dividend. At the current share price, the
dividend yield is about 6.5 per cent, a level matched by few other big
US companies.

A1plus
| 14:31:59 | 08-06-2005 | Politics |
THE YOUNGSTERS COOKING A POLITICAL SOUP
Leader of the Progressive Party Tigran Urikhanyan held a press conference
today to inform the journalists that they will join the Justice Party. By
the way, the party has nothing to do with the Justice bloc. Tigran
Urikhanyan announced that they carry out negotiations to join the
left-socialist powers.
Tigran Urikhanyan also informed that they will create a union of
national-patriotic powers joining together right, left and pro-governmental
powers. These are parties which are not very famous for the society but
which all together gathered 15% votes in the Parliamentary elections.
What if uniting together political parties of different ideology, trends and
plans the Progressive Party cooks a `political soup’? The party leader
refused to answer this question. Neither did he say who will lead the new
union. He underlined that `If Serge Sargsyan puts forward his candidacy for
the coming Presidential elections, we will by all means defend him’.
The leader of the Justice Party with which the Progressive Party United
today announced that they form an alliance `to do good for this country’.
One of the good things, according to him, was the cleaning of the walls of
Yerevan from posters. With this their party saves the money of the
communities and pays taxes to the budget. He did not explain where the money
to be spent on the wall cleaning comes from.

AMBASSADOR VLADIMIR PRYAKHIN: OPENNESS OF STATE STRUCTURES CONTRIBUTES
TO STRENGTHENING OF CONTACTS BETWEEN PEOPLE AND POWER
YEREVAN, JUNE 8, NOYAN TAPAN. “We are convinced that openness of state
structures contributes to strengthening of contacts between the people
and power while estrangement of power from people leads to appearance
of mistrust in the power in the society.” Ambassador Vladimir
Pryakhin, Head of the OSCE Yerevan Office, declared this at the June 8
seminar dedicated to provision of transparency of activity of state
bodies and accessibility of information. According to him, one of the
most important directions of activity of OSCE Yerevan Office is
assistance to power bodies and civil society in realization of
strategy of struggle against corruption. Ambassador V.Pryakhin
mentioned the special role of mass media in this issue. Aghvan
Vardanian, RA Minister of Labor and Social Issues, mentioned that
development of civil society is impossible without transparent
activity of state bodies. According to him, this problem is attached
great importance to in the country in recent years: “Unless we can
explain to our society what this or that department is engaged in,
naturally, it’s impossible to expect understanding and trust in the
society,” the Minister declared. A.Vardanian assured that the
department headed by him tries to be open. Tatul Hakobian, RA Deputy
Minister of Health, and Artak Sahradian, RA Deputy Minister of
Education and Science, also participated in the seminar organized by
the National Center for Monitoring of Liberalization Processes.”

A1plus
| 18:22:34 | 08-06-2005 | Official |
FORCED TO ADOPT THE BUDGET EARLIER
Today Robert Kocharyan has had a working meeting with the Minister of
Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatryan.
The course of realization of Robert Kocharyan’s order to adopt the 2006
budget earlier than the present date has been discussed. It is conditioned
by the necessity to carry out the preliminary works of state purchases
better and more quickly. According to it, the preliminary draft budget will
be prepared in August, the discussions will take place in September, and in
October-November it will be represented in the National Assembly.
The President and the Minister have also spoken about the allotment of means
from the budget to the education, health and social fields. According to
them, in 2008 the wages of the teachers will be 70 000 drams, and the social
pensions will be 19 000. And starting from 2006 the hospital services will
be free.
Robert Kocharyan has also referred to the social problem of the military
servicemen assigning the Minister to envisage means for that purpose in
2006. In particular, in order to solve the housing problem of the families
of the dead soldiers more quickly, this year instead of 200-400 million
drams 1 billion 700 million drams will be envisaged.

Los Angeles Times
June 8 2005
At 88, Kerkorian Continues to Bet on the Future
By David Streitfeld, Times Staff Writer
Ever since Kirk Kerkorian revealed last month that he was buying a
major stake in General Motors, people have been speculating about his
motives.
Here’s one safe bet: the multibillionaire is not acquiring shares in
the biggest and sickest automaker out of any special affection for
cars.

Unlike many wealthy folk, Kerkorian does not fill his garages with
lovingly shined roadsters. In a city where you are what you drive, he
drives a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Before that, he drove a Ford Taurus.
Long ago, he cared. When Kerkorian first became rich, he bought a
lavish Cadillac and outfitted it with spiffy wire wheels. Then he got
bored and got rid of the car.
For the wealthiest man in Los Angeles, this is a familiar pattern.
“I used to have beautiful watches,” he says, extending his right
wrist beyond the cuff of a crisp white shirt. It’s bare. “I’ve done
those things,” he adds, dismissing all sorts of luxury goods and
high-profile events. The man who owned the legendary Hollywood studio
MGM watches the Oscars on television.
There’s only one thing whose appeal has remained constant: doing
deals. For 60 years, Kerkorian has been buying and selling airplanes,
airlines, movie studios and Las Vegas casinos and hotels, trading his
way to what Forbes magazine estimates is a $9 billion fortune.
This week has been a big one, even for him. On Monday, Kerkorian
turned 88, an age when most moguls are either dead or taking it real
slow.
Tuesday, he was the ghost in the room as GM held its annual meeting
in Wilmington, Del. Trying to placate disgruntled shareholders who
saw the stock hit a 12-year low this spring, GM chief Rick Wagoner
announced the elimination of 25,000 jobs, about 16 percent of the
company’s U.S. workforce.
Wednesday, Kerkorian disclosed that he had acquired another 19
million GM shares in a tender offer, giving him a 7 percent stake.
He got only about two-thirds of the shares he had been seeking — an
indication that shareholders, in a sudden shift of sentiment, are now
expecting the price to go higher. Kerkorian’s investment has
dissipated some of the clouds over the stock, if not over the
company.
In Detroit, the reaction to Kerkorian has been half hope, half dread
and complete surprise. Even his onetime partner, former Chrysler
Chairman Lee Iacocca, says he was “stunned” that Kerkorian “had taken
such a position in a difficult time.”
Maybe, the optimists think, he can spark management into saving GM,
somehow pumping up its sales while slashing its healthcare costs. Or
perhaps, the pessimists counter, he’ll push for a breakup, splitting
the cash-rich financing arm from the ailing car-making part. That
might be the end of GM as we know it.
Kerkorian denies any plans to exert an influence. “I’m a very passive
investor,” he says.
“He’s a born gambler with a sixth sense for sniffing out value,” says
Iacocca, who joined in the ill-fated Chrysler bid. “Doing deals is
what keeps him alive.”
Doing them simply is what keeps him rich. “You get a checklist,”
Kerkorian explains, “and then you just sort of ride herd on it.” It’s
always just a few items on a single sheet of paper.
His lawyer, Terry Christensen, has watched him invest for 35 years.
One of Kerkorian’s strengths is his ability to screen out the
extraneous.
“He likes something on a clear table, where he can see what it is,”
says Christensen.
At the moment, Kerkorian’s desk is actually quite cluttered, but he
says this is atypical. He’s been away, at the Cannes Film Festival,
which he enjoyed from the deck of his 192-foot yacht, the October
Rose.
This office, on a Beverly Hills side street, makes an unlikely
command post. It’s discreet to the point of invisibility. The suite
isn’t listed in the building directory, and the nameplate on the
locked door is blank.
Inside, there are few personal touches beyond the photos of Tracy and
Linda, the children from his long-dissolved marriage to former dancer
Jean Hardy.
The girls, born in 1959 and ’65, provided the name for Kerkorian’s
holding company, Tracinda, and his foundation, Lincy, but have no
direct involvement with his business.
Also on the shelves are a scattering of books. Several are about
Armenia, the former Soviet republic that is Kerkorian’s ancestral
land.
A century ago, his father left Armenia for California. Kirk was born
in Fresno. The first language he learned was Armenian, and his
friends and colleagues have often been Armenian. Since the country
declared its independence in 1991, he has been its benefactor to the
tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
He’s not reclusive, just quiet. Even in photographs, he says, you can
tell which one is him, because he’s got his mouth shut. Unlike folksy
Warren Buffett or geeky Bill Gates, Kerkorian casts no reflection in
popular culture. Mention his name to people and they tend to confuse
him with Jack Kevorkian, the suicide doctor.
Unlike many moguls, his ego isn’t stroked by appearing in the media
— this interview, which he did reluctantly but graciously, is a rare
exception. He’s not in the business of selling Kirk Kerkorian.
But there’s another explanation for his reticence: shame. His formal
education ended after the eighth grade, and he thinks his
conversation betrays it.
“I wish I could talk like Donald Trump or Steve Wynn,” he says.
“Hell, I’d love it.”
A final reason is simply impatience. Reminiscing is something he
doesn’t have time for.
That’s not because he’s 88. No matter how old you are, he once told a
friend, you’ve got to act as if you have 15 more good years.
Kerkorian could pass for a youth of 68. He’s being treated for
macular degeneration, the deterioration of the central portion of the
retina, so he sits out of the glare of the sun. But otherwise, thanks
in part to endless games of tennis, he’s in splendid shape.
“I think it’s in our genes,” says his sister Rose. “I’m 94, and I
still kick the dog around.”
Ahron, Kirk’s father, was an entrepreneur. He put together 1,000
acres of farmland near Bakersfield but a recession hit and he
couldn’t come up with $8,000 to stave off the bankers. Ahron moved
his family to Los Angeles, where he became a fruit broker but found
success elusive. “We had to move every three months because we
couldn’t pay our rent,” Rose remembers.
Kirk learned two things: First, don’t attach yourself too much to
anything you own, because it might be taken away from you. “I’m not
married to anything,” is the way he expresses it in “Kerkorian: An
American Success Story,” a 1974 book by the late Los Angeles Times
reporter Dial Torgerson that is the key source on the tycoon’s early
life.
A second lesson absorbed from his father’s travails: Don’t bet
everything you have on one roll of the dice, because if you fail you
won’t have anything left to bet next time.
Kirk first wanted to be a boxer, like his older brother Nish. At
nearly six feet, he was taller than opponents in his weight class,
giving his arms a longer reach. At his second fight, in Bakersfield,
he flattened the other fighter with one quick shot. The press
nicknamed him Rifle Right Kerkorian. In 33 bouts, he only lost four
times.
His ambition was to fight in Madison Square Garden but he got
diverted — luckily, he says now. “My brother got really damaged
fighting, and it probably would have happened to me. I’d be a
punch-drunk fighter someplace.”
What intervened was flying. Kerkorian was working with a friend,
installing furnaces. During lunch, the friend would stop at Alhambra
Airport, where he was accumulating enough air time to obtain his
pilot’s license.
“I watched him do it three or four times,” says Kerkorian. “I said,
`You’re wasting three bucks on this?’ But I took a ride, and got
hooked.”
He became a student, paying for the lesson but not the extra 50 cents
to rent a parachute. He became an instructor, then a military
instructor. During World War II, he was a ferry pilot for the Royal
Air Force, earning $1,000 a month transporting planes from their
Canadian factories to England. The work was incredibly dangerous,
because the bombers weren’t designed for the North Atlantic’s bad
weather or the long distance.
In 1947, Kerkorian bought a C-47 transport in Hawaii for $10,000. He
knew he could sell it for nearly twice that on the mainland. The
trick was getting it there. The 2,400-mile journey from Honolulu to
San Francisco greatly exceeded the plane’s range.
Kerkorian’s solution was to install eight additional fuel tanks. But
there wasn’t enough margin of error, and the plane was draining the
last of its fuel with nothing visible but ocean. Kerkorian and his
three-man crew threw their luggage and everything else that wasn’t
nailed down off the plane, trying to lighten it. That wasn’t enough.
They were preparing to ditch when the coast, and the airfield,
finally came in sight.
A few weeks later, Kerkorian took the plane’s sole life raft to the
beach and tried to inflate it. Thanks to a hole, the raft was as
seaworthy as a piece of paper. “I should have died and I didn’t,” he
says.
His friends and associates differ on the label, but all agree that
Kerkorian has a unique ability to make successful bets on the future.
To hear him tell it, though, it’s often just a happy accident.
“I’ve had more people tell me, did you envision this or that?”
Kerkorian says. “It would be bullshit if I said anything. I just
lucked into things. I used to think that if I made $50,000 I’d be the
happiest guy in the world.”
Kerkorian has always been loyal to his friends, and they’ve always
been loyal to him. When young Kirk was sent to reform school, his
best friend Norman Hungerford intentionally misbehaved so he would be
sent there too. After 80 years, the two still keep up.
If his friends help keep his life in balance, tennis is what gives
him energy. He was a late convert to the game, not picking up a
racket until he was 50. Now he plays several times a week, often in a
doubles competition with buddies affectionately named “the grudge
match.” They play, eat lunch, play again.
“We used to have such fun teasing each other about it,” says Joe
Sugerman, one of the players. “It was a terrific escape from all the
pressures of the week.”
Sugerman is speaking in the past tense because some of the fun has
gone. Kerkorian’s regular partner was ICM agent Mort Viner. During a
game two years ago, the players were changing sides when Viner
fainted. The heart attack killed him. In his memory, the players keep
his chair at lunch vacant.
Recently, Kerkorian has been playing in senior tournaments for those
85 and up. The United States Tennis Association ranked him and his
doubles partner, 88-year-old Irving Converse, 11th in their age
category.
“Some old guys get pretty upset about losing. Kirk’s not like that,”
says Converse. “He enjoys the game, win or lose. Of course, the more
he wins, the better.”