Sol Kerzner -Bankrupt After the promised "Pot of Gold." His first hotel was purchased in Durban, South Africa in 1962. It became successful and he then built South Africa's first 5 star graded hotel in Umhlanga, South Africa. (A small holiday village on the East Coast of Natal.) The Beverly Hills was opened in December 1964. Following the opening of the Beverly Hills, he then went on to build a 450 room Elangeni Hotel which overlooked the Durban beachfront.
In 1969 he went into partnership with South African breweries and established a chain of Southern Sun hotels. By 1983 Southern Sun operated 30 luxury hotels with over 7000 rooms. Le Saint Geran in the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius was his next hotel opened in 1975. His most ambitious project was developed in Africa in 1979 - Sun City. Over a period of ten years Sol built four hotels, two man made lakes, two Gary Player golf courses, an entertainment centre with a 6000 seat multi - purpose arena in which he brought many superstars; Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli and Shirley Bassey, Queen, Elton John and Rod Steward were among them.
During 1985 Sun City was the topic of anti - apartheid discussions and Sol Kerzner's dream was to create a place where the sun didn't stop shining and people from the Rainbow Nation could be led to their promised "Pot of Gold." He created jobs and brought people from all over South Africa together in a place where there were no laws. In 1994 Nelson Mandela asked Kerzner to arrange the vip function for the presidential inauguration where many of the worlds leaders and the head of state would attend. 1996 led him to open the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut in the U.S.A. and in 2000 opened the second phase which has 1200 rooms through a joint venture with the Mohegan Tribe of Conecticut. They relinquished their management in 2002 and Kerzner will still receive a 5% dividend until 2014. This property is one of the largest gaming and entertainment sights in the U.S.A. Due to his successful Sun City, Kerzner expanded his business into international gambling and resorts. In 1994 Kerzner created Atlantis in the Bahama's. It had 1150 rooms and was bankrupt until Kerzner took it over and bought Paradise Island, transforming it into a 2300 room resort with the largest marine habitat in the world and the Carribeans' biggest casino.
2002 was the opening of the One and Only's which currently operates in the Bahama's, Mexico, Mauritius, South Africa, the Maldives and Dubai. 2007 was the expansion of the Atlantis, Paradise Island with new hotels and 21 retail outlets. In 2008, he took Atlantis global at the Palms in Dubai a water themed resort on the Palm Jumeirah. Queen ElizabethII invested Kerzner with the insignia of Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George. (KCMG) for outstanding and exemplary contribution of business in the Bahamas. https://hubpages.com/entertainment/Sol-Kersner