He surprised analysts and investors in April when he began buying Ford shares and spent over $1 billion to take a stake in Ford at an average price per share of $7.10. At its peak, Kerkorian held a 6.5 percent stake in Ford and had offered in June to support the automaker's turnaround efforts with an infusion of additional capital. Ford has been widely considered to be the best-positioned of the three Detroit automakers at a time when all three have been hit hard by declining sales and tight credit. When G.M. and Chrysler negotiated $17.4 billion of emergency loans from the federal government earlier this month, Ford held back, saying it expected to be able to weather the downturn on its own. But conditions across the auto industry have taken a dramatic turn for the worse since September when credit suddenly tightened for both car shoppers and dealers.