Kerkorian Unloads Ford Shares

Updated at 3:10 p.m. EST

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, who earlier this year owned a 6.5% stake in Ford(F), has sold the last of his shares in the automaker.

A spokeswoman for Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. confirmed the sale on Monday.

Kerkorian began buying Ford shares in the spring, eventually accumulating 141 million shares. But by October, Tracinda reported, that number fell to 107 million shares, or 4.89% of common stock outstanding.

Ford shares, which traded as high as $8.79 in the spring, closed Monday at $2.22, down 7 cents. Among the Detroit Three automakers, Ford is the only one that didn't seek part of the $17.4 billion in government auto-bailout funds that recently were committed to GM(GM) and Chrysler. GM closed Monday at $3.60, down 6 cents.

Kerkorian has long displayed interest in auto industry investing. In 1995, he invested in Chrysler and threatened a takeover. In 2005, he invested in GM and unsuccessfully sought to force a merger with Renault and Nissan(NSANY).

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