Barry Diller’s People Incorporated Offers $18B to Take MGM Private

Barry Diller’s People Incorporated has submitted a proposal to take MGM Resorts International private through a $48.30-per-share cash offer for the shares it does not already own, valued at approximately $18 billion.

People Incorporated, formerly IAC, currently owns 66.8 million MGM shares, representing a 26.1% stake in the company. The company is MGM’s largest shareholder.

According to the proposal, the offer represents a 10.6% premium to MGM’s most recent closing price. It’s a 24.1% premium to the stock’s 30-day volume-weighted average price and a more than 30% premium to its 90-day volume-weighted average price.

Diller Says MGM Is Not Realizing Its Full Value

In a letter to MGM’s board, Diller said:

We believe that MGM’s assets and businesses are not currently realizing their full potential in the public markets and that it will be difficult to correct this situation in MGM’s current form as a public company.”

The company stated that it expects to own “just over” 50.1% of MGM’s post-closing equity, thereby gaining control of the business. Other investors, potentially including current MGM shareholders, would hold minority interests.

Diller, who serves on MGM’s board, said he would recuse himself from any deliberations by the board regarding the proposal.

The proposal would take MGM private if completed. People Incorporated also indicated that it expects that CEO Bill Hornbuckle and MGM’s current management team will continue leading the business. Diller also said:

We believe MGM’s management team is superb, and that there is a compelling opportunity to support MGM’s next phase of growth and help unlock its full value.”

People Incorporated said it expects to fund any transaction through a combination of existing cash, debt financing, and equity commitments. The company emphasized that the offer remains non-binding and is subject to further negotiations, due diligence, financing arrangements, and regulatory approvals.

In a press release acknowledging the offer, MGM said it “will carefully review and consider the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the company and all of its shareholders.”

The proposal also includes MGM’s interest in BetMGM, the company’s online sports betting and iGaming joint venture with Entain.

Former MGM Executive: Company is Undervalued

Alan Feldman, director of strategic initiatives at the International Gaming Institute at UNLV and a former MGM Resorts executive, said he was not surprised by the proposal.

MGM stock has been undervalued for a very, very long time, and the company has very consistently improved its balance sheet, tightened its operations, kept its cash flow going in a positive direction.”

Feldman added:

If I was surprised by anything, it was that it’s taken this long.”

Feldman also said that Wall Street has historically perceived gaming stocks as volatile. But at the same time, he says, looking at industry history, “you see nothing but growth over six, seven decades.”

Bid Follows Fertitta’s Caesars Acquisition Agreement

The proposal comes days after Fertitta Entertainment announced an agreement to acquire Caesars Entertainment for approximately $17.6 billion and take it private.

The $31.00-per-share offer represents a 49% premium to Caesars’ share price as of February 25, 2026. That was the last trading day before reports of a potential transaction emerged. Similar to Diller’s offer for MGM, Fertitta Entertainment indicated that the current Caesars management team would remain in place.

If completed, the MGM and Caesars transactions would result in two of the largest U.S. casino operators being acquired by existing major shareholders within a matter of days.

Regarding the two offers, Feldman said, speaking from a Nevada perspective, that both cases involve people who know the industry.

You have people who’ve been in this industry, or in it now, and I think that’s so much more comforting than just some random hedge fund coming in and saying, ‘Oh yeah, let’s do this,’ where we’ve seen mixed results. Not all bad, but mixed results.”