Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, an eighth-grade dropout who built Las Vegas' biggest hotels, tried to take over Chrysler and bought and sold MGM at a profit three times, has died Monday, Associated Press reports referring to the death of one of the most famous US businessmen.

According to the news agency, he built the 30-story, 1,568-room International Hotel, the world's largest hotel when it opened in the late 1960s.

Washington Post calls Kerkorian a self-made billionaire, who became known as one of the most cunning dealmakers of his generation through his buying and selling of some of the largest companies in the airline, hospitality and entertainment industries.

“Mr. Kerkorian, whose fortune was estimated this month at $4 billion by Forbes magazine, liked to call himself “a small-town boy who got lucky.” But in a career spanning seven decades, he displayed an uncanny ability to anticipate what would invite good luck,” the newspaper reports.

According to Bloomberg, Kerkor Kerkorian was born on June 6, 1917, in Fresno, California to Ahron and Lily Kerkorian, Armenian immigrant farmers who lost their land in the 1920s. The family moved to Los Angeles, where the elder Kerkorian operated fruit stands. 

The agency reports that his fortune took a hit during the financial crisis of 2008. Among his losses: about $600 million from unwinding a stake in Ford Motor Co. Construction of the $8.5 billion CityCenter development in Las Vegas during the global recession drove down MGM’s stock price.