Mr. Kerzner has been spending a lot of time in New York and London and reportedly intends to invest in a home in The Bahamas.
He also plans to spend more money in The Bahamas because of his permanent residency status, the Journal has learnt.
In addition, the permanent residency is expected to attract more international investors here who would wish to have residency.
Mr. Kerzner, who employs the largest number of Bahamians outside of government, has residences is several cities worldwide.
His permanent residency comes as he prepares to move his multimillion-dollar expansion of Atlantis Paradise Island into full swing.
Construction of his new 1,200-room hotel is expected to begin in the last quarter of 2004.
Atlantis has a total workforce of about 6,000 and Mr. Kerzner, during the groundbreaking of Phase III last September, promised to employ another 4,000.
The completion of Phase III, which is scheduled in 2006, will bring Kerznerﾴs total investment on the island to $1.7 billion since it opened Atlantis in 1994.
A lot is riding on the expansion with Prime Minister Perry Christie and his cabinet pointing continuously to the rewards Bahamians will reap from the development, which is expected to provide a significant boost to the local economy.
Mr. Kerzner, who is known in South Africa as the Sun King, is said to have a golden touch that has made him one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the world.
The casino magnate owns hotels in Mauritius, Mexico, the United States and Dubai and is involved in many other ﾓlarger-than-lifeﾔ projects intended to ﾓblow away the customer.ﾔ
The UK Guardian reported recently that: “Shareholders in Wembley, the gaming and dog tracks company, have been offered an extra ﾣ7.6m (US$13.48 million) in an increased bid from a group of investors including the South African gambling tycoon Sol Kerzner.ﾔ
Kerzner and his son, Butch, also announced late last year that their company had reached agreement with another company to develop a new six-star luxury hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.
But Kerzner is also involved in other ventures aimed at improving hospitality industries.
Last December, for instance, he announced that he was donating millions of dollars toward the building of a new School of Tourism in Johannesburg, the first combined hospitality and tourism training school in the country.
The Bahama Journal
