Las Vegas

"By now, the pace of Kerkorian’s deal making was accelerating and the numbers were escalating. In 1955, correctly foreseeing the coming pros¬ perity of Las Vegas, he invested $50,000 in a hotel in that city. His tim¬ ing was off, however. Hotel expansion had temporarily gotten ahead of growth in gambling and Kerkorian lost his investment. He resolved not to invest thereafter in a business he did not run, but remained con vinced of the city’s bright future. In 1962, he paid $960,000 for 40 va¬ cant acres across the Las Vegas Strip from the Flamingo hotel and casino.15 The investment paid off in spades when the property became the site of Caesars Palace in 1996. Kerkorian collected $4 million per annum in rent for two years, then sold the property to the hotel-casino’s owners for $5 million."

"[](private://read/01jg9b8njt7zc5haz30afb9n29/#ch02_20)Pachinko operated in a legal grey zone, opening a space for ethnic Koreans shut out of the traditional economy. In time, they would come to dominate an industry amounting to 4 per cent of Japan’s GDP, more than Las Vegas and Macau combined.[21](private://read/01jg9b8njt7zc5haz30afb9n29/#ch02_21)"