Who is kerzner

The irony was that shortly after she turned 40, Sol started making jokes that he had never gone out with a woman in her 40s and not long afterward, the American born filed for divorce as a result of what she described as unreasonable behavior. Heather made millions from the divorce, even though she was hard hit.

Unfortunately, she would go on to experience a sharp fall in her fortune following an investment that went sour. From all his marriages, Kerzner had 5 kids.

In , tragedy struck when Sol lost his first son, Butch Kerzner in a helicopter crash. But also joined the family business and lost his life after he went to survey a site for a new resort in the Dominican Republic. He was 42 at the time of his death. Sol Kerzner and his ex-wife Heather Image Source. Without any doubt, Sol Kerzner was one of the richest men in South Africa. He made his fortune through his many investments in the hotel business. He has built businesses from the start and watched them bloom into things others would never have expected.

He has had ambitious projects in different parts of the world including South Africa where he built the Sun City and the United States where he had the Mohegan Sun. For a man as rich as Sol, one would expect that he enjoyed the luxurious things of life; he did not fail at that. He had state of the art estates as well as luxurious cars.

He bought his first hotel in Durban, South Africa, in The hotel rapidly became a huge success in South Africa; as a result, he decided to build another 5 star-graded hotel in Umhlanga, South Africa. Among his numerous achievements, the two man-made lakes, four hotels, as well as the two Gary-player golf courses he built within 10 years were considered to be the greatest. At that same time, he also established an entertainment centre that contained 6, multi-seat arenas, in which he invited a large number of superstars to perform: Liza Minelli, Frank Sinatra, Queen, Elton John, Shirley Bassey, and Rod Steward among others.

Kerzner suffered a heart attack that almost got him killed in There were rumours that this heart attack had been triggered by his bad temper and womanizing habits. Sol ensured that he also introduced his children to the hotel and casino business early enough.

Thanks to this, they became good at it and became a part. This helped them to bounce back. Sol Kerzner got back into the business of developing and designing properties and built a casino that would be competing with Mohegan Sun.

A post shared by Christina Estrada christinaestrada1. Surprisingly, Kerzner ditched her after a seven-year courtship to marry her best friend, Heather Murphy. Interestingly, Christina who was a supermodel got married in to Saudi billionaire heir and businessman. This party has been recognized as one of the biggest parties that have ever been held in the history of the world; it has been ranked above the Beijing Olympics. Easy to describe as a man who has seen it and done it all, Sol lost his life on 21 March , at the age of He died in Leeukoppie Estate in Cape Town from cancer and was surrounded by family members.

His funeral was private, only attended by family members. All Rights Reserved. Part of Alexander Moore Partners Ltd. Buzz South Africa. Last Updated: July 28, By Andile Smith. Public Figure. When the government established black homeland states, which were allowed to make their own laws, Kerzner took advantage of the situation and in he struck a deal with Bophuthatswana--a state with a population of 1.

Here he built the legendary resort Sun City, which opened in It featured a man-made lake, a ,acre wildlife park, four hotels, casino, two golf courses, and a 6,seat arena.

Because South Africa's apartheid system was receiving increased condemnation from around the world, Sun City had to pay entertainers a premium. Kerzner maintained that Sun City was unfairly targeted by anti-apartheid forces, arguing that Bophuthatswana allowed blacks and whites to mix openly, and that the resort provided thousands of jobs to blacks and brought in tax revenue to the homeland state.

Nevertheless, Sun City became a symbol of apartheid to many, its reputation firmly established in by the protest song "Sun City," in which such celebrity singers as Bruce Springsteen, Bono, and Bob Dylan chanted a pledge, "I ain't gonna play Sun City.

His company was called Sun International South Africa. Although he harbored international ambitions, Kerzner found it difficult to transcend his association with South Africa and apartheid.

Investments in France and Australia were also rebuffed. It was not until the release from prison of Nelson Mandela, the longtime black opponent of apartheid, that Kerzner began to see business pick up at Sun City and he was able to expand internationally.

Kerzner's first order of business was to upgrade the Sun City complex. In addition to a room hotel called The Palace, The Lost City included a man-made jungle complete with rivers and waterfalls. While The Lost City helped to renew interest in Sun City, it also served as a trial run for Kerzner's next project: the Atlantis resort on the Paradise Island stretch of beach near Nassau, in the Bahamas.

The property fell into disrepair and eventually filed for bankruptcy under Griffin. He picked up three hotels, a golf course, a small airline and airport, and acres of undeveloped beachfront property. He also took over a complex that was in woeful condition, both in terms of the operation and the physical condition.

Most of the buildings leaked and the famous Ocean Club had been virtually destroyed by termites. Not only would Kerzner have to rebuild Paradise Island's structures, he also faced the daunting task of repairing the marketing damage done to the resort, as many people who had once vacationed in the Bahamas now traveled to resorts elsewhere in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

Kerzner quickly took steps to integrate the Paradise Island properties into a massive resort and get it opened for business, essentially designing while building. As he explained to Hotels, "When we started Atlantis my idea was to bring the ocean into the resort and create these fish habitats.

I again felt that if we were really going to do it, it really had to be the right scale. The resort reopened in December as the Atlantis Paradise Island, occupancy quickly increased by 16 percent, and the resort essentially revitalized the Bahamas' tourism industry.

But Kerzner was only beginning to realize his dream for Paradise Island. Even as Kerzner was dedicating a great deal of his resources to the Bahamas, he also was turning his attention to the United States. In the early s he became involved in the rapidly growing tribal gaming industry.

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of gave Native American tribes the right to conduct gaming on tribal lands, including casinos with state permission. One of the most successful of the Native American casinos was the Foxwoods resort, located near North Stonington, Connecticut.

It was run by the Mashantucket Pequot Indians, which as a matter of historical fact were virtually eradicated by English settlers and rival tribes in Members of the reconstituted tribe had to be one-sixteenth Pequot, but these requirements were soon loosened so that anyone who could trace his or her lineage to a Pequot listed in the or census was eligible to apply for tribal membership.

Foxwoods, located close to New York and Boston, was an immediate success, attracting the attention of another branch of the Mashantucket Pequot family tree, the Mohegans, who broke away before the s and moved to Connecticut.

For years a group of about 1, people claiming Mohegan lineage petitioned the U. Bureau of Indian Affairs to be recognized as a sovereign tribe. Helping them through the process that would lead to a highly coveted gaming license was hotel developer Len Wolman. After the Mohegans gained their recognition, Wolman, who had never run a casino, turned to Kerzner for. Flush with successes in the Bahamas and Connecticut, Kerzner tried once more to become involved in Atlantic City, as well as Las Vegas.

Again he looked to pick up the pieces left behind by Merv Griffin. He promised to bring something special to Atlantic City, but the venture proved to be one of the few failures in Kerzner's career. Atlantic City was too mature a market and he was simply unable to compete on price. During the late s Kerzner also cast his eye on Las Vegas. He was on the verge of buying the Desert Inn casino located in the heart of the city's Strip and famous for housing the reclusive Howard Hughes.

Chastened by his experience in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, Kerzner chose to concentrate on what he did best, developing one-of-a-kind theme resorts where he was able to operate as a virtual monopoly. Phase II of Atlantis Paradise Island opened in , adding the 1,room Royal Towers hotel, which featured a six-story "Hall of Waters" lobby and 50,square-foot casino. Despite the slump that hit the tourist industry in the aftermath of the September 11, , terrorist attacks on the United States, business at Atlantis remained strong and the resort continued to contribute the lion's share of revenues and profits for Sun International.

However, Kerzner, although well into his 60s, continued to harbor big dreams. He was now aided by his son, Butch Kerzner, who, after earning an M.