Diller Drops $18B MGM Bid; Stock Falls 9.5% to February Levels

Barry Diller's People Inc. notified MGM Resorts International on September 23 that it was withdrawing its proposal to take the casino operator private, ending a bid that valued the company at roughly $18 billion. The media group, which was renamed from IAC earlier this year, said it will hold on to the 66.8 million MGM shares it already owns — a stake of about 27%.

The offer dated to June 2026, when Diller wrote to MGM's board arguing that the shares were undervalued and proposed paying $48.30 in cash for every MGM share People Inc. did not already hold. In a statement on Wednesday, Diller said: "There are lots of ingredients that go into a proposal of this kind on its way to completion. We didn't feel the mix was coming together in the way we had hoped and have decided not to pursue taking the company private at this time." He did not specify which ingredients were missing, and no party has given a reason beyond that sentence.

The market answered the next morning. MGM was trading at $34.26 at 11:12 a.m. Eastern on September 24, down $3.59 or 9.48% from the previous session's close of $37.85, according to Nasdaq market data. The stock dipped as low as $33.70 during the session and was changing hands below any closing price it has recorded since February 23. More than 7.3 million shares had traded before midday. These are intraday figures; the session was still open as this article was written.

For MGM, the immediate consequence is that it stays a public company. Chairman Paul Salem said in a statement that "the board remains excited to continue to lead MGM Resorts as a standalone company," pointing to the operator's Las Vegas position, its regional properties and momentum at BetMGM. MGM runs 30 hotel and casino destinations worldwide and owns half of BetMGM, the sports betting and online gaming venture it shares with the UK operator Entain. Diller, for his part, said People Inc. has "total confidence in both the management and the Company's prospects."

What happens next is genuinely open. Diller said People Inc. remains "open to and interested in the possibility of a strategic transaction with MGM Resorts and look forward to considering a range of alternatives" — language that stops well short of closing the door, but commits to nothing specific either. Neither company has announced a timetable, a revised price, or any structure for a future deal. The unanswered question is what changed between June, when Diller called full ownership a compelling opportunity, and September, when the mix stopped coming together.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.