Atlantis Paradise Island Resort Employee Discounts In 1994, Sol Kerzner purchased a languishing Resorts International from entertainer/entrepreneur Merv Griffin. This once-popular jet-set playground on Paradise Island had seen better days, but from the start Kerzner saw its potential. Struck by the beauty of the location, on a lush tropical island with a pristine two-mile white sand beach, Kerzner vowed to build the most engaging and astounding resort the world had ever seen, a place where dreams would be made real and all who experienced it would fall under its mystical spell … whilst having a whole lot of fun in the process.