Kerkorian estate gives $2M to MGM Resorts employee grant fund

It’s been more than nine years since Kirk Kerkorian, founder of MGM Resorts International, has been on the company’s board, but his estate continues to benefit employees.

MGM Resorts said Wednesday that Kerkorian’s estate donated $2 million to The MGM Resorts Foundation’s employee emergency grant fund, which provides short-term assistance and financial relief to employees — both active workers and those who have been furloughed or laid off — who have suffered hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This can include assistance with rent or mortgage payments, utility bills and medical and funeral expenses.

At the end of 2019, MGM had roughly 70,000 full-time and part-time employees in the U.S. In a July 30 call, Chief Financial Officer Corey Sanders said less than half have been brought back to work.

The MGM Resorts Foundation has raised more than $14 million for the grant fund since the start of the pandemic and has so far dispersed more than $11 million, the company said.

Kerkorian founded MGM Resorts International in the early 1990s. He stepped down from MGM’s board of directors in 2011 and passed away in 2015 at age 98.

“As the founder of MGM Resorts International, Mr. Kerkorian attributed much of his success to the employees at MGM,” a representative from his estate said in the release. “We know that he would have wanted them to know how much he cared for them and their families and would do what he could to help those affected by the devastating impact of this pandemic.”

President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the additional funding will allow the foundation to continue helping “many more employees” and their immediate families in coming weeks.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.