Without being in kirk ker-korian's mind, it's hard to say why a secretive 87-year-old Beverly Hills billionaire would suddenly buy shares in an industrial dinosaur like General Motors. So let's say this: The man doesn't like sitting in the backseat, not in his personal life, certainly not as a busi-nessman. Most mornings he drives himself to work in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, arriving at the office by 10:30. He can afford a chauffeur, of course, since he's worth an estimated $9 billion, a fortune built over a half-century of buying and selling assets from airlines to real estate, casinos, hotels, movie studios and automakers. Yet while many octogenarians may aspire to improve their golf score, Kerkorian keeps thinking big and shows no signs of slowing down, not when it comes to driving, investing or his favorite sport, tennis, which he plays most weekends, still packing a powerful forehand. "He's a real competitor" on the court, says George Mason, a longtime business colleague and tennis pal.
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