hotel, retail and residential companies, companies previously
serving only major urban hubs. And CityCenter will ensure the
greatest possible return on our investment on this Las Vegas
Strip land.
As always, we are working on many growth opportunities to
increase our momentum and become a company with a global
scale. We are excited about the expansion projects underway 
at Borgata, the rapid sales pace at The Residences at MGM
Grand Las Vegas, and the development of a hotel-casino in
Macau. And we are exploring additional development opportu-
nities in the Far East and the United Kingdom. All of these
endeavors will be handled with the clear intent of expanding
prudently and ensuring financial stability, as our capital alloca-
tion focus in 2005 will be to reduce debt and continue to invest
in our resorts.
Defining Value
It has become a custom to include our financial core values 
in this letter to our owners. We believe that management’s most
important role is to most effectively manage assets and allocate
capital. We hire the best casino resort operators in the world,
and they provide us the fuel we need, operating cash flow, to
propel us forward. That cash flow generates real value for share-
holders in several ways.
First, we can re-invest in our resorts, as we have done
over the past several years and will continue to do so in 2005
and beyond. These investments create the impetus for
increased guest spending, and the relationship is not linear.
We are capturing an increased share of guests and an
increased share of each guest’s spending budget. Since 2000,
we have invested over $2.0 billion in capital in our resorts and
our unconsolidated affiliates, which helped drive EBITDA
from $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion in 2004, with significant
cash flow-producing assets just coming on line in late 2004.
Second, we can return capital to the shareholders. In 2004,
we repurchased eight million shares of common stock for 
$349 million bringing the total since May 2000 to 30 million
shares for $1.0 billion. Third, we can reduce debt, and 
maintain a low cost of borrowing for the future. In 2004, 
we repaid almost $100 million in net debt, bringing total
debt reduction since May 2000 to $1.1 billion.
Our financial strength allowed us to issue over $1.5 billion
in fixed rate debt in 2004 at historically low interest rates, as
well as securing a $7 billion credit facility to fund the Mandalay
acquisition, the largest ever for a gaming company. And the
recent redemptions of certain of our Senior Notes means our
assets are no longer securing our remaining senior debt,
including the new credit facility.
Always in Motion
We would love to look back at 2004 forever, given that 
it was our company’s best year ever. But our work is only
beginning. New history is still to be made; records are waiting
to be broken; and we must vigilantly maintain our momentum.
As stewards of your company, our goals are to continue to
perform at peak levels and manage our growth initiatives to
ensure maximum value for our shareholders. I hope to report
on new defining moments in next year’s Annual Report. 
JAMES J. MURREN President, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer 
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WILLIAM SMITH President, MGM MIRAGE
Design Group
RICHARD A. STURM President, 
MGM MIRAGE Sports & Entertainment 
FRANK VISCONTI President,
MGM MIRAGE Retail
RENEE WEST President,
Primadonna Resorts 
FORREST WOODWARD
President, Boardwalk 
17