Barry Diller’s investment vehicle People Incorporated (PPLI) has withdrawn its proposal to buy MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), the company said on 23 September 2026. The move ends nearly four months of on-off talks over what would have been one of the largest casino-sector buyouts in years.
The withdrawn proposal was valued at more than $18bn, according to the Nevada Independent, and would have taken MGM entirely private.
What the June offer actually said
Widely circulated coverage of the withdrawal, including the original Wall Street Journal report, has described Diller’s June approach as an offer to take a “majority stake” in MGM. The record does not support that description.
People Incorporated’s June 1, 2026 letter, filed with the SEC, proposed to acquire all outstanding MGM shares it did not already own, for $48.30 a share in cash. At the time, People Inc held 26.1% of MGM’s stock, according to its own June statement. The offer was for the remaining roughly 73-74% — a full take-private, not a controlling stake.
Reuters, which independently reported the withdrawal, and the Hollywood Reporter both frame the collapsed deal in the same terms: a buyout attempt, not a partial-stake bid.
Board says it stays put
MGM’s chairman, Paul Salem, confirmed the board’s position after the withdrawal, saying the company remains committed to running MGM as a standalone business, according to the Hollywood Reporter’s account of the board’s statement.
Diller’s People Incorporated will keep its existing position. The firm confirmed it continues to hold 66.8 million MGM shares, about 27% of the company, once the proposal was pulled. That leaves the largest single shareholder outside management still on the register, with no deal on the table and its earlier valuation of the business now public record.
MGM shares fell sharply on the news. The stock closed the regular session on 23 September at $37.85 before dropping in after-hours trading following the Journal’s report, a move Reuters and other outlets put at roughly 8%. Across the prior 24 hours to market data compiled as of 23:00 UTC on 23 September, MGM was down 12.4%, and had fallen 18.5% over the preceding 20 trading days, with the stock touching a 20-day low of $33.70.
A standalone company with mixed recent numbers
The board’s confidence in going it alone comes against an uneven earnings run. MGM posted net income of $292.4m and diluted earnings per share of $1.11 in the second quarter of 2026, filed with the SEC on 29 July 2026. That followed a rockier stretch: the company reported a net loss of $285.3m, or $1.05 a share, in the third quarter of 2025.
Quarterly revenue has stayed in a narrow band through the period, running from $4.18bn to $4.45bn a quarter since early 2024, filings show. The company’s underlying business, in other words, has been more volatile at the bottom line than at the top.
Diller’s approach followed a wave of consolidation in the casino sector. It came roughly a week after Caesars Entertainment agreed to be bought by Tilman Fertitta’s company for $17.6bn, according to the Nevada Independent — a deal that set a fresh reference point for what a Las Vegas Strip operator might fetch in a full buyout.
Financing backdrop turned less friendly
The withdrawal also lands against a higher-rate environment than when Diller first built his stake. People Inc, formerly IAC, began accumulating MGM shares in 2020 when the stock was battered by pandemic-era closures, according to Reuters. The 10-year US Treasury yield stood at 4.96% as of 22 September 2026, based on Federal Reserve data, a level that raises the cost of financing large leveraged take-privates of the kind Diller had proposed.
Short-sale activity in MGM had also been climbing into the announcement. FINRA’s daily short-sale ratio for the stock rose from 0.549 on 11 September to 0.586 on 23 September, the day of the withdrawal, according to FINRA data — a pattern consistent with traders positioning for the deal talk to unwind rather than close.
People Incorporated’s broader portfolio extends well beyond casinos. The company’s other holdings include more than 40 media brands, among them PEOPLE, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure and Southern Living, according to its own statement announcing the withdrawal. For now, MGM’s board has what it says it wanted: a free hand to run the casino operator on its own, with Diller’s stake — and his view of its value — still sitting on the shareholder register.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Markets move quickly; figures are correct as sourced at the time of writing. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.
