{"id":94841,"date":"2018-12-15T08:26:40","date_gmt":"2018-12-15T16:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=94841"},"modified":"2018-12-15T08:26:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-15T16:26:40","slug":"mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM Casino Mogul Kirk Kerkorian\u2019s Estate Settles with Widow for $12.5 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

The widow of MGM Resorts International founder\u00a0Kirk Kerkorian<\/a>\u00a0will receive $12.5 million from the billionaire\u2019s estate, despite waiving away her claim his fortune when she signed a prenup four years ago.<\/p>\n

\"Kerkorian\"
Una Davis and Kirk Kerkorian were married in 2014 and lasted 57 days. Divorce proceedings were underway when the MGM Resorts founder died in 2015, aged 98. (Image: Una Davis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Una Davis married Kerkorian — known as \u201cthe father of the megaresort\u201d — in 2014 and lived with him for just 57 days before their relationship broke down and he asked her leave. Divorce proceedings were underway when Kerkorian died<\/a> in June 2015, aged 98.<\/p>\n

Davis \u2013 Kerkorian’s fourth wife \u2013 had claimed she was entitled to a third of his $1.8 billion estate. Her lawyers argued that she signed the premarital agreement under duress and that she did not fully understand it, making it invalid. Moreover, they claimed at the time Kerkorian\u2019s advanced age rendered him unable to make decisions and that he was under undue influence from those around him.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not About the Money\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Generally speaking, under California law an \u201comitted spouse\u201d is able to claim a third of the deceased\u2019s estate if the will fails to provide for them, a law designed to protect the surviving spouse from accidental disinheritance.<\/p>\n

\n

But in January, an appeals court held that the estate\u2019s executor was within his right to reject Davis\u2019 claim for $600 million. On Wednesday a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Small approved the settlement between Davis and the billionaire’\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Additionally, the estate will create a $10 million \u201cdonor advised fund\u201d in Davis\u2019 name, to be administered by the National Philanthropic Trust. Davis will be able to advise on an additional $50 million worth of charitable contributions.<\/p>\n

Davis\u2019 lawyer John Deily told reporters his client was pleased with the outcome. \u201cIt was never about the money,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was about the keeping the spirit of Kerkorian\u2019s charitable interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building the Strip<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2008, Kerkorian was listed by Forbes as the 41st<\/sup> richest person in the world, with a net worth of $16 billion, but his fortune was adversely affected by the ensuing recession. As well as one of the key figures to shape the Las Vegas Strip, he was an aviator, a movie mogul and a philanthropist.<\/p>\n

Initially an airline tycoon, Kerkorian later moved into the hotel business, building the world\u2019s largest hotel in Las Vegas three times.<\/p>\n

He acquired a controlling stake in the Metro-Goldwyn Mayer movie studio in 1969 and used the name to add some Hollywood luster to his new Vegas project — the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, from the MGM Resorts empire grew.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The widow of MGM Resorts International founder\u00a0Kirk Kerkorian\u00a0will receive $12.5 million from the billionaire\u2019s estate, despite waiving away her claim his fortune when she signed a prenup four years ago. Una Davis married Kerkorian — known as \u201cthe father of the megaresort\u201d — in 2014 and lived with him for just 57 days before their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":94843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMGM Casino Mogul Kirk Kerkorian\u2019s Estate Settles with Widow for $12.5M<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Una Davis, widow of billionaire MGM Resorts founder Kirk Kerkorian, will receive $12.5 million from the casino mogul\u2019s estate, despite signing a prenup and relationship only lasting for 57 days.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MGM Casino Mogul Kirk Kerkorian\u2019s Estate Settles with Widow for $12.5M\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Una Davis, widow of billionaire MGM Resorts founder Kirk Kerkorian, will receive $12.5 million from the casino mogul\u2019s estate, despite signing a prenup and relationship only lasting for 57 days.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-15T16:26:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kirk.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2174\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1597\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/\",\"name\":\"MGM Casino Mogul Kirk Kerkorian\u2019s Estate Settles with Widow for $12.5M\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kirk.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-15T16:26:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-15T16:26:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Una Davis, widow of billionaire MGM Resorts founder Kirk Kerkorian, will receive $12.5 million from the casino mogul\u2019s estate, despite signing a prenup and relationship only lasting for 57 days.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-casino-mogul-kirk-kerkorians-estate-settles-with-widow-for-12-5m\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kirk.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kirk.png\",\"width\":2174,\"height\":1597,\"caption\":\"Una Davis and Kirk Kerkorian were married in 2014 and lasted 57 days. 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