Casino Magnate Sol Kerzner Passes Away

Sol Kerzner, founder of South Africa’s two largest hotel groups – Southern Sun and Sun International, has died of cancer at his home in Cape Town. He was also known as “the Sun King.”

Having founded SA’s two largest hotel groups, Kerzner went on to create casinos and hotels in the US, Mauritius, Maldives, Bahamas, Dubai and other important international destinations.

“Sol was someone who possessed a rare combination of creative genius, uncanny financial acuity and an astonishing energy, which he poured into every business he touched. Nothing he built was ever boring and he never chased the money. He only chased success. He was always trailblazing, always in pursuit of bigger, better, new, different, more exacting and exciting projects around the globe,” Ian Douglas, a friend and employee at Kerzner’s various companies for 20 years, said.

Kerzner’s impact on the international resort industry cannot be understated. From his modest start in life, his career spanned six decades, establishing well over 80 hotel and casino properties, in more than a dozen countries.