Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire investor who has held 6.5 percent of the Ford Motor Co., has divested himself of a portion of his stake and may sell the remainder according to his investment entity, Tracinda Corp.

Kerkorian, 91, increased his share of Ford in June, but since that time the value of the stock has decreased 60 percent. Tracinda sold 7.3 million shares of Ford on Monday, October 20 at an average per share price of $2.43.

Tracinda plans to reduce its holdings further including the remaining 133.5 million shares of Ford, about 6.09 percent of the company, depending on conditions in the market and the available sales price.

In June Kerkorian was poised to infuse more capital into the recovery of Ford, but with the automaker's sales down 17 percent in the first nine months of 2008, a decline ever steeper than the overall automotive decrease of 13 percent, the billionaire seems to have rethought his support.

Kerkorian, who has a history of active investment in the auto industry, surprised analysts and Ford executives in April with the announcement of his sizable investment.

Although the Ford family holds only 3 percent of shares in the company, it controls approximately 40 percent of the voting power due to an arrangement before the company went public in 1956, which created a separate class of shares.