MGM Resorts Reportedly Weighs Bid for Barry Diller's People Inc. After $18 Billion MGM Offer Is Withdrawn

Barry Diller's People Incorporated has withdrawn its roughly $18 billion proposal to take MGM Resorts International private. A day later, the Wall Street Journal reported that MGM is now discussing a possible bid to acquire People Incorporated instead — a report neither company has publicly confirmed.

The Withdrawn MGM Bid

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People Incorporated, formerly known as IAC, submitted a non-binding proposal to MGM's board on June 1, 2026, offering $48.30 per share in cash for all MGM stock it did not already own. People disclosed at the time that it held 26.1% of MGM's outstanding shares and said the deal would take its stake to just over 50.1%, giving it control of the company. Based on the offer price and MGM's outstanding share count, the proposal valued MGM at approximately $12.4 billion on an equity basis; including MGM's assumed debt, the transaction carried an enterprise value of roughly $18 billion, the figure most widely cited in coverage of the deal. The offer represented a 10.6% premium to MGM's last closing price, a 24.1% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price, and more than a 30% premium to the 90-day average, according to People's own announcement.

Why People Inc. Walked Away

People Incorporated withdrew the proposal on September 23, 2026. In a statement, the company said that "there are lots of ingredients that go into a proposal of this kind on its way to completion" and that the mix had not come together as hoped. According to CNBC, the debt load the transaction would have created for People Incorporated was a factor in the decision. Diller added that People remains "open to and interested in the possibility of a strategic transaction with MGM Resorts" going forward, without specifying what form that might take.

MGM's Response

MGM confirmed the withdrawal and said it intends to continue as a standalone public company. MGM Board Chairman Paul Salem pointed to the company's Las Vegas Strip holdings, its regional casino portfolio and continued momentum at BetMGM, its sports-betting joint venture with Entain, as reasons the board believes MGM can build shareholder value on its own.

The Reported Reversal: Would MGM Bid for People Inc.?

On September 24, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that MGM Resorts is discussing making a bid to acquire People Incorporated — the same company that had just walked away from buying MGM. The report said an offer could come within days if MGM decides to proceed. Reuters and Bloomberg both relayed the Journal's reporting rather than independently confirming it, and neither MGM nor People Incorporated has issued a public statement confirming that discussions are taking place. No SEC filing referencing such a transaction has been identified. This section of the story should be read as reported, not announced.

What a Deal Would Look Like

People Incorporated's roughly 26% stake in MGM — built up since Diller began investing in the casino operator in 2020 — has been valued by market reports at somewhere between $2.5 billion and $3 billion, depending on the source and date. People's own market capitalization sits in a broadly similar range, an overlap that some analysts, as relayed by the Journal, have pointed to as evidence of a conglomerate discount on People's other assets. Those other assets include more than 40 media and lifestyle brands, among them PEOPLE, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, InStyle, Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Living and the Daily Beast.

Market and Analyst Reaction

MGM shares fell roughly 11% on September 24 following news of the withdrawal, before the WSJ report on a possible reversal helped stabilize sentiment. People Incorporated shares rose roughly 9% after that report. Bank of America reinstated coverage of MGM the same day with a Neutral rating and a $40 price target. Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas maintained a Buy rating with a $55 price target, well above MGM's recent trading price of around $32.50, while Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon described MGM's implied enterprise value of about $5.9 billion as "a striking discount." These are the analysts' own opinions about MGM's value, not confirmed facts about where the stock will trade, and are not investment advice.

Current Status

As of September 26, 2026: People Incorporated's original proposal to acquire MGM has been formally withdrawn and is no longer pending. MGM remains a standalone, publicly traded company. Whether MGM will actually bid for People Incorporated — and on what terms — has not been confirmed by either company; it remains a single, sourced but unconfirmed newspaper report. Any future transaction in either direction would still require board approval, and in MGM's case, gaming-regulatory review in the jurisdictions where it operates.