We wondered if Kirk Kerkorian wasn't just a little mad when he bought a 5.5% stake in Ford after selling his GM stock and unsuccessfully attempting to buy Chrysler. News that he's now bailing on his investment has some estimating that Kerkorian, who owns the primary stake in MGM Grand, lost upwards of $670 million on…

The week after taking a 5.5% stake in Ford Motor Co., representatives of investment tycoon and corporate raider Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corporation had a little chat with Ford CEO Alan Mulally and executive chairman Bill Ford to discuss [random speculation]. While the meeting was described by Ford representatives as…

We'll tell you this much — Kirk Kerkorian knows how to play the auto industry like a fiddle. The man can turn a quick buck out here in Detroit like a street corner vendor selling Red Wings championship gear. Long-term success? Ha! Who needs it? Not when you can parlay a stock price up high enough to pull in…

Some of you may remember that way back on May 9, Kirk Kerkorian, America's favorite nonagenarian billionaire, made a cash purchase offer for 20 million Ford shares at $8.50 apiece. Well, that offer expires today at 5 pm. If Ford accepts the offer, Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp would pay a premium to attain a 5.5% stake in…

We got a call early this morning with someone telling us that Kirk Kerkorian and Tracinda had just moved to buy more of FoMoCo. Having endured a late night, we promptly fell back asleep. Upon waking up we had to run to the computer to double check that wasn't some sort of weird dream (like the one where Bob Lutz hunts…

Sweet Peet weighs in on Kerkorian's overture to the union in his attempt to buy out Chrysler and ends up making a very salient point:

Everyone knows who Bill Vlasic is right? He's the Detroit News reporter who co-wrote the definitive account of the how Chrysler and Mercedes became the stilted and fubar married couple they are today. Vlasic and co-author Bradley A. Stertz's "Taken For A Ride" starts with an attempted takeover by a certain…

Hot off the wires:

The dream is — according to the Wall Street Journal anyway — dead. The Journal's reporting that the man with the plan's sold not just half of his stock in the General as we reported earlier — but all of his stock in the biggest n' baddest automaker in the world. KirkKerk has left the building, and with him — all…

Looks like KirkKerk wants very little to do with the world's largest automaker — the corporate raider's company, Tracinda, is cutting it's shares again — and this time it's in half. Kerkorain's cutting his stake down to a paltry 4.95%, or 28 million shares — a level that will ensure he won't be able to do much more…

First he tried to align the General with Renault-Nissan, next he said he wasn't going to be buying any more stock — worrying the General's brass that a proxy fight was in the works — and now he's decided the thought of a proxy battle's just not going to solve anything. The man with the big wad of cash just announced…

Ok, we're still digesting this one but it seems that we shouldn't be worried about who'll be bringing the fire to shove under Rick's backside after GM Board member Jerry "Peppermint Patty" York announced his resignation earlier today. The fire's still there — and it's in the form of a potential hostile takeover.…

Automotive News is reporting what folks have been speculating about all week after the GM-Renault-Nissan talks were axed — Jerry York, the Kirk Kerkorian flunky and member of the GM board of directors, has resigned from the General's board, according to a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In…

KirkKerk, like the Mona Lisa, has a dangerous smile when he's thinking about his beloved loved despised General Motors. Guess he and his hetero life partner, Tracinda, are thinking about what they'll do once they've snagged off of the street up to 12 million more shares of the company, which would give it more than…

Bloomberg News's reporting FoMoCo's in talks to sell some of its luxe brands from its Premier Automotive Group (NAMBLA) with a group led by none other than former Ford Chief Executive Officer Jacques Nasser. This is the same guy who FoMoCo's board fired just five years ago after the whole Firestone tires thing —…

It's always nice to be able to get your company and its investments in the black. Billionaire investor, financier and top GM shareholder, Kirk Kerkorian certainly knows how to make a profit (the key being, of course, a necessary understanding of Step 2) — at least for Tracinda Corporation, his child holding company…

Yeah, it's total speculation on our part but we can't think of anyone else Micki would be talking to with this kind of knowledge of the direction Tracinda's looking to take with GM — save Kirk Kerkorian or Jerry York or one of their inner circle. We're ruling out usual suspect Anthony Mandekic, who's usually more…

According to the AP, KirkKerk's Tracinda Corp, which owns nearly a 10th of GM, in a partnership with Renault and Nissan, could easily purchase 30% of the ailing American automaker, giving them a hefty vote on the board, and possibly ending Rick Wagoner's lifelong career with the General. Some are for the deal, hailing…

None other than the august Wall Street Journal weighs in on new standards set forth by the Financial Accounting Standards Board regarding pensions, which could turn GM's remaining shareholders into paupers, should the company file for bankruptcy. Per the WSJ: