MGM Resorts CEO rules out any deal with Barry Diller's People Inc.

Bill Hornbuckle, president and chief executive of MGM Resorts International, told investors on Wednesday that any takeover deal involving Barry Diller's People Inc. is off, in either direction.

"We are done," Hornbuckle said on the company's third-quarter earnings call, as reported by SBC Americas. "That is our position and that is People's position."

The confirmation came hours after MGM announced an amendment to its voting agreement with People Inc., which withdrew its roughly $18bn proposal to take MGM private in September.

People Inc. submitted that offer on 1 June 2026, seeking to buy all MGM shares it did not already own. The media company is MGM's largest shareholder, holding about 27% of public shares, and Diller said at the time he expected to lift that stake to 50.1%.

Diller said in September that People Inc. pulled the bid because "we didn't feel the mix was coming together in the way we had hoped." Hornbuckle added on Wednesday that MGM's Special Committee and People Inc. had agreed on a price, but that "People was unable to assemble a syndicate that met their objective."

Diller said after withdrawing the bid that he remained open to a future strategic transaction with MGM, prompting a Wall Street Journal report that MGM could instead move to acquire People Inc., whose market capitalisation was described as roughly equivalent to the value of Diller's own MGM stake.

Asked about that report by CNBC's Contessa Brewer at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas on 29 September, Hornbuckle did not deny it outright. "Look, we're going to do as we've always wanted to do as investors and shareholders and try to unlock the value of a company that we think is grossly undervalued," he said, adding that "we'll continue to talk both ways and see what it ends up."

On Wednesday's call he confirmed that idea had been explored but had gone nowhere. "The dialogue back and forth between us and People on 'you buy us', 'we will buy you', was all about trying to unlock the value our shares," he said.

The amended voting agreement caps People Inc.'s MGM stake at 29.9% of outstanding shares, preventing further share purchases above that threshold. People Inc. and Diller also committed to vote their full holding in favour of board recommendations in any future change-of-control transaction, while MGM agreed not to take defensive measures against People Inc.'s own business.

Hornbuckle and MGM Resorts board chairman Paul Salem said they continue to value Diller as a shareholder and director. "We believe this amended agreement aligns our largest shareholder, not only with our long-term strategic plan, but also with our ongoing commitment to maximizing value for all of our shareholders," Hornbuckle said.

The announcement came alongside third-quarter results showing MGM net revenue down 1% year-on-year to $4.2bn, with adjusted EBITDA falling 20.4% to $402.8m amid weaker performance in Las Vegas and regional markets, which dropped 1.5% and 7.7% respectively.

Casino revenue from Las Vegas Strip resorts rose 8% to $488m, though rooms revenue fell 6% to $622m. The company's net loss narrowed sharply to $17m from $285m a year earlier, while operating income swung to $118.7m from a $112.9m loss in the prior-year quarter.

MGM's share price fell to $27.02 on Wednesday evening following the results and the deal news, its lowest level since late March 2025.