Hedge fund manager Keith Meister, who serves on the board of directors of MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), somewhat decreased his ownership stake in the massive casino.

Meister's Corvex Management sold 242,000 MGM shares on Thursday, September 11 at a weighted average price of $35.42, bringing approximately $8.57 million.  A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) states that transactions took place at prices between $35.54 and $35.61.

"After the sale, the filing shows beneficial ownership of 5,385,478 shares held indirectly for accounts of private investment funds advised by Corvex. The filing disclaims that the reporting person directly beneficially owns these shares except to the extent of his pecuniary interest, and offers to provide details on the number of shares sold at each price upon request,” according to a Stock Titan summary of the sale.

In January 2019, the founder and chief investment officer (CIO) of Corvex Management became an independent director on MGM's board.  Meister and his company did not publicly address the reasons behind the reduction of the Bellagio operator's interest, and the SEC has not mandated that they so.

One of the biggest MGM shareholders is still Corvex

Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IAC), which owns over 22% of the casino shares, is the biggest MGM investor by percentage.

IAC is not considered an institutional investor despite having such a large stake.  Endowments, fund managers, pension plans, hedge funds like Corvex, and other professional market players make up this category.

Corvex was the ninth-largest institutional investor in MGM at the end of the second quarter, but after this week's share transaction, Meister's company now has slightly fewer shares in the gaming company than GoldenTree Asset Management.  With Corvex falling to the tenth position, the company is currently the ninth-largest institutional shareholder in MGM, assuming it hasn't given up its MGM investment.

Over the past few years, Corvex's MGM holding has progressively decreased.  The hedge fund held 20.93 million shares of the biggest operator on the Las Vegas Strip at the end of 2019.  At the end of the second quarter, MGM was one of the hedge fund's top five long positions despite that decline.

Corvex Owns Additional Gaming Stocks

In addition to MGM, Meister is a protégé of renowned gaming investor Carl Icahn.  Corvex invested in Entain (OTC: GMVHY), MGM's partner in the BetMGM joint venture, in 2023.  Earlier this year, that percentage was raised to 5.3%.

Additionally, in 2022, the hedge fund acquired a stake in the massive Swedish online gambling company Kindred Group, which eventually rose to about 17%. The hedge fund profited when the company was sold to France's lottery monopoly, Française des Jeux (FDJ), for $2.7 billion in 2024.