Barry Diller’s People Inc. Makes $18 Billion Bid for MGM Resorts

Barry Diller’s People Inc., the largest shareholder of MGM Resorts, has made an all-cash offer to buy the rest of the casino and hotel operator.

People Inc., which holds roughly a 26 percent stake in MGM, offered $48.30 per share for the shares it does not already own—about a 10.6 percent premium to MGM’s prior closing price, the company said on June 1. The proposal implies an equity value of roughly $12.4 billion and an enterprise value of about $18 billion with MGM’s debt included.

“We began investing in MGM nearly six years ago because we believed it represented a rare kind of business: one with real-world assets that AI cannot easily replicate or disintermediate and exceptional digital growth opportunities,” Diller said in a letter outlining the bid. He added that his conviction has strengthened over time.

If the deal moves through, MGM would become a private company under People Inc.’s control, according to Diller. People Inc. would own just over 50.1 percent of MGM’s equity.

Diller said he expects to finance the deal using a mix of cash on hand at People Inc. and MGM, alongside additional debt and equity funding, and said he has held preliminary discussions with potential investors and financing sources.

MGM confirmed it received the proposal and said its board is reviewing the offer with advisers. Diller, who sits on MGM’s board, is expected to recuse himself from deliberations involving the bid.

In April, Diller said the IAC holding company he founded more than two decades ago will be formally rebranded as People Inc. when it reports second-quarter earnings in August. He said the name change is meant to reflect its shifted focus on the company’s two key assets: the People publishing business and its stake in MGM.

The shift has been underway for some time. IAC’s Dotdash Meredith publishing unit changed its name to People Inc. in July 2025, and that branding now extends to the entire enterprise.

“We’re transitioning the necessary staff of IAC into the corpus of People. That will significantly reduce our overhead as we concentrate on our two assets: People publishing and our holdings in MGM Resorts,” Diller told shareholders at that time.

Diller’s bet on MGM comes against a mixed operating backdrop for the casino company. MGM has leaned on growth outside Las Vegas, including international markets such as Macau and Osaka and its online betting venture BetMGM, while results on the Las Vegas Strip have shown pressure.

In its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings report, MGM said its Las Vegas resorts segment posted net revenue down about 3 percent year over year and adjusted EBITDAR down about 4 percent. But despite headwinds in Las Vegas, MGM reported consolidated net revenues of $4.6 billion in that quarter, a 6 percent year-over-year increase.

Across the broader gambling industry, traditional casino operators are also contending with rising competition from online sports betting, as well as the emergence of gambling-adjacent prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket. Those platforms have drawn scrutiny and legal challenges over whether they should be regulated under state gambling frameworks or at the federal level as financial exchanges.