Grand Ambition in Dubai

(2 of 2)

The child of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants to South Africa, Kerzner grew up in the back alleys of Johannesburg, and was an amateur boxer before becoming a chartered accountant. He decided to go into the inn-keeping business after his parents bought a modest hotel in the coastal resort of Durban. Still in his 20s, he built the Beverly Hills Hotel, the country's first five-star accommodation. In partnership with South African Breweries, he eventually accumulated 30 hotels stretching from Cape Town across to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Kerzner earned his rep as a world-class risk taker by building Sun City, a Las Vegas-style gambling and entertainment complex in a black "homeland" at the height of the apartheid era in South Africa. Critics argued that he was profiting from a much-criticized feature of the apartheid regime; Kerzner countered that Sun City was a place where blacks and whites broke racial barriers by partying together. Kerzner later became friends with Nelson Mandela, attending the South African hero's 90th birthday party in London in June. By the time apartheid fell, Kerzner was selling off his properties in South Africa and going global, notably with the launch of the Atlantis in Paradise Island in 1996 — a spectacular success that revived tourism in the Bahamas. Kerzner, who maintains residences in London, the Bahamas and the south of France as well as in his native country, arrived in Dubai in 1997 to build one of its first glitzy resorts, the Royal Mirage, for the ruling family. In 2001, he approached bin Sulayem with a proposal to build the Atlantis as the Palm's anchor attraction.

Some might see a Jewish businessman investing hundreds of millions of dollars with Arab partners in the heart of the conflict-prone Middle East as a man taking the gamble of a lifetime. Not Kerzner. He came here soon after his plan to build a casino complex in the Israeli resort of Eilat fell through, and has felt at home ever since. "We are businessmen from Dubai and we look at it as business," explains bin Sulayem. "If he is the best Jewish man but has no vision, we wouldn't do business with him. But if he is from Timbuktu with a good idea, we will. What people believe is up to them. And when Sol came to Dubai, he didn't wear a flag that said, 'By the way, I'm Jewish.' " Addressing Western fears about the Arab and Islamic worlds back in his office at the Atlantis, Kerzner adds, "I don't think it's good to have stereotyped notions of people." He says he's not on a mission to bridge cultural gaps, but if people see his partnership with Dubai as an encouraging symbol of harmony in a troubled region, "that's good."

Even better, Kerzner and bin Sulayem think, would be to make piles of money together in times that are looking increasingly difficult for tourism. They plan to open other major resorts in Morocco, Zanzibar and South Africa in the coming year or so, although a deal with MGM Mirage to launch a major new casino project on the Las Vegas Strip is being put on hold at least until the credit squeeze eases up. "It's been quite challenging," Kerzner says. "We continue to do reasonable business but there's no question the marketplace has taken a hit."

The global slump hasn't been the only bad omen for the launch of the Atlantis in Dubai. Only weeks before the resort welcomed its first paying guests with a soft opening in September, a fire caused by welders engulfed the hotel's lobby. That produced a public-relations nightmare of flames and smoke billowing from the site aspiring to become Dubai's next icon. Workmen managed to repair most of the damage in time, but then the Atlantis was hit by "Free Sammy" campaigners demanding the release from the aquarium of a 13 ft.-long whale shark on the grounds that it was a member of a vulnerable species; a Kerzner spokesman says the young fish will be released into the Gulf soon. All that is on top of Kerzner's personal woes. In the last two years, he has undergone a triple heart bypass, done a stint for alcoholism at the Betty Ford clinic, and lost his son and heir to the Kerzner business empire, Butch, in a helicopter accident. That tragedy brought Kerzner, now 73, out of retirement.

With the unflappable demeanor of a street kid turned globe-conquering billionaire who's seen it all, Kerzner remains optimistic. While refusing to divulge specifics, he says that bookings for the Atlantis are strong. He believes that even without gambling, the Atlantis is a natural draw for holidaymakers coming from Europe and Asia as well as the Middle East itself; Dubai does not forbid alcohol as most of its Muslim neighbors do. Yet Kerzner places his greatest hopes in his long-term dealings with his Arab associates. "This is probably the finest partnership I have experienced, and I've been in business with a lot of good organizations," he muses after lunch beside the Atlantis' aquarium. "Quite a lot of it is just chemistry. We have great respect for one another. We have fun in what we're doing." As Kerzner was out to demonstrate, when Dubai wants to throw a party, even a global financial meltdown can't spoil the fun — especially if the world's greatest saloonkeeper is in town.