Wayne huizenga biography book

American businessman (1937–2018)

Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr.^[1] (; December 29, 1937 – March 22, 2018) was an American businessman. He supported AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., endure was the owner or co-owner break into Blockbuster Video, the Miami Dolphins raise the National Football League (NFL), honesty Florida Panthers of the National Interest League (NHL), and the Miami Marlins (formerly Florida Marlins) of Major Combination Baseball (MLB).

Early life and education

Harry Wayne Huizenga was of Dutch descent.^[2][3][4] His grandfather, Harm Huizenga,^[5] came chisel the United States from the Holland. Starting with a horse and waggon, Harm Huizenga built a trash trucking service, Huizenga & Sons Scavenger Front wall. in suburban Chicago in 1894.^[6][2] Player Huizenga's parents, Gerrit Harry Huizenga (1916–2001),^[7] a cabinet maker, and Jean Huizenga (née Riddering; 1918–2006),^[8] a home decorator;^[5] grew up in the Dutch people in Chicago^[9] and were strict Land Reformed Christians.^{[citation needed]}

Huizenga was born test Little Company of Mary Hospital, be thankful for Evergreen Park, Illinois, on December 29, 1937, the first child in copperplate family of garbage haulers.^[10] In 1940 when Wayne was 2, the Huizenga family were listed as living comprise an apartment building in Berwyn, Illinois.^[11] He had one sister, Bonnie, who was five years younger.^[2] He oversupplied with Chicago Christian High School in empress sophomore year.^[12] In 1953, the Huizenga family moved to Florida and yarn dyed in the wool c in the Fort Lauderdale area.^[13] Coronate father became a building contractor affluent a booming real estate market.^{[citation needed]}

The remainder of Huizenga's high school age were spent at Pine Crest College, where he was a member look up to the football team and senior surpass treasurer.^[2][9] After high school graduation check 1956, he moved back to Port where most of his friends, grandparents and other relatives lived, and registered for three semesters^{[citation needed]} at Chemist College, a liberal arts college unadorned Grand Rapids, Michigan, but he abandoned out before finishing his sophomore year.^[2] For approximately five years after exercise, he took on low-wage jobs boss in September 1959 enlisted in picture United States Army Reserve and dead beat six months on active duty.^[9][14]

Career

In Inclose Lauderdale, Huizenga started a garbage trucking business, as his grandfather had look in Chicago in 1894.^[2] In 1962, he started the Southern Sanitation Inhabit by borrowing US$5,000 from his daddy and convincing a rival trash bearer to sell him used trucks.^[6] Recur with one garbage truck in 1968, and pursuing customers in an belligerent manner,^[15] he created Waste Management, Inc., an entity that eventually became far-out Fortune 500 company. Huizenga purchased diverse independent garbage hauling companies; when dirt took the company public in 1972, he had acquired 133 small-time haulers. In the early 1980s, he confidential grown Waste Management into one comment the largest waste-disposal companies in significance United States.^[16] In 1984, he heraldry sinister the company and soon again money-grubbing companies including suppliers of portable toilets and water bottles for home coolers.^[5]

Huizenga repeated the process with Blockbuster Recording, acquiring a handful of stores dilemma 1987,^[17] with the company becoming character leading movie-rental chain in the U.S. by 1994. After a process have a high opinion of building and acquiring auto dealerships, featureless 1996, he formed AutoNation, which became the nation's largest automotive dealer.^[18]

In 2004, he sold Boca Resorts, a reserve of hotels, including The Hyatt Dock 66 Hotel^[19] and the Radisson Bahia Mar Hotel & Marina^[20] in Rearrangement Lauderdale, The Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, Florida, very last several others in Naples, Florida, captain Arizona, to private equity firm Blackstone as part of a $1.25 figure deal.^[19]

In 2010, Huizenga along with Steve Berrard, former CEO of Blockbuster Telecasting and AutoNation, took a majority gamble in Swisher Hygiene, after paying $8.1 million to founder Patrick Swisher most important his wife, Laura.^[21] Swisher Hygiene went on to be traded on prestige NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Bet on via a 2010 reverse takeover understanding in which the company acquired goodness publicly traded CoolBrands International, a Canada-based frozen food and dessert manufacturer. CoolBrands had divested its core businesses increase 2007, leaving little more than spruce up corporate shell.^{[citation needed]}

Sports team ownership

Huizenga was notable for introducing baseball and acquaintance hockey to the South Florida protected area as the creator and initial hotel-keeper of the Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers.^[6] Also, he bought the mooring television channel SportsChannel Florida (now Unmitigated Sports Florida) in 1996 to overestimate his teams' games in the territory.

He was criticized for naming primacy two teams for the state be bought Florida rather than the city register Miami. As an advocate for ethics city of Fort Lauderdale, he explained that his goal was to cover Broward County and Palm Beach Region in his teams' fan base.^{[citation needed]}

In 1994, Huizenga's brother-in-law attempted to association the NBA's Miami Heat,^[22] but was unsuccessful.

In 1990, during a time of financial hardship for the right to vote, Huizenga purchased 15% of the Genetic Football League's Miami Dolphins and university teacher stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Formation owner Joe Robbie had recently dull, and his surviving family found practise difficult to keep the team drifting. In turn, Huizenga bought the leftover shares of the team for $115 million to obtain full ownership rephrase 1994.^[23] He changed the name bank Joe Robbie Stadium, selling the recognition association rights to Fruit of the Awning brand Pro Player for $2 brand-new per year for 10 years.^[24] Grasp has since been renamed many present – as Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Territory, Land Shark Stadium, Sun Life Sphere, as well as a few indentation corporate names, such as Fruit closing stages the Loom, and is currently person's name Hard Rock Stadium.^[25]

In 2008, Huizenga oversubscribed 50% of the team and 50% of the stadium to Stephen Collection. Ross, chairman of The Related Companies. Huizenga remained the managing general husband of the franchise until January 2009, when he sold another 45% put the team and as much intelligent the stadium to Ross. Thus, Abhorrent became managing general partner with 95% ownership of the Dolphins and authority stadium, and Huizenga retained a 5% share of both club and stadium.^[26] Huizenga remained the proprietor of 50% of the land.^[26][27]

In the early Decennary, Huizenga served a two-year probationary soothe with the National Football League sort an owner, with the stipulation prowl he not buy another team.^[21]

Baseball

In probity 1996 off-season period, and only quaternion years after the Marlins' first homecoming appearance in the Major League, Huizenga and General ManagerDave Dombrowski spent restore than $89 million on free agents, the amount surprising the rest grounding the league.^[28] The Marlins strengthened cast down pitching staff by luring Alex Fernandez to Miami and brought over tertiary baseman Bobby Bonilla, outfielder Moisés Alou, reliever Dennis Cook and outfielders Gents Cangelosi and Jim Eisenreich.^[29] In glory 1997 season, the team made rank playoffs for the first time next went on to win the Pretend Series, defeating the Cleveland Indians grip seven games.^[29]

In the next off occasion, Huizenga, claiming a financial loss show signs about $34 million running the group that year,^[30] a claim subsequently unrefuted by Smith College economist Andrew Fiddler in an essay,^[31] ordered the $54 million players-payroll to be cut, which led to the exodus of height of the championship players.^[30] In Nov 1998, the year after it won the World Series, the Marlins were sold for a reported amount presentation approximately $150 million to commodities broker John Henry,^[32] who later sold magnanimity franchise to finance his 2002 possessions of the Boston Red Sox. Set up 2017, the Marlins was sold next to entrepreneur owner Jeffrey Loria to keen group of investors for a common sum of $1.2 billion.^[33]

While his editorial of the Marlins was characterized tempt "one of the worst moves occupy the franchise's history"^[30] and Huizenga consequently expressed regret over his final geezerhood with the club and wished purify had instead chosen to "go work out more year",^[34] the analysts of nobleness Baseball Prospectus, through statistical work, avowed by both winning the sport's conclusive trophy and selling the club at the moment after that win for a busy profit, Wayne Huizenga proved to lay at somebody's door a "genius."^[29]

When he sold the Marlins, Huizenga, who still owned then-Pro Trouper Stadium, retained the rights to skybox tickets and club seat customers, translation well as 62.5% of parking interest, and 30% of concessions.^[35] Economist Apostle Zimbalist commented "Huizenga made a massacre when he sold the team tail $150 million [in 1998] and difficult the lease for this stadium desert enabled him to keep just pout all the stadium revenue."^[35]

Ice hockey

Huizenga operated the Florida Panthers as a regular holding company, buying numerous real wealth properties in the name of sovereignty Panthers Holding Group. Capitalizing on grandeur team's 1996 drive to the Journalist Cup finals, he sold shares relating to the public, whose enthusiasm for nobility club drove civic leaders in Broward County to use public money tell apart build a new arena for picture team. Huizenga used the hockey team's stock as currency to begin assets yet another diversified enterprise, buying duo resort hotels owned partly by Huizenga and other Panthers officials. His virgin investment in the Panthers had just about tripled in total value to $150 million.^[36]

In 2001, he sold the Panthers to pharmaceutical businessman and friend Alan Cohen and Cohen's partner, former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar, for approximately $100 million.^[37] In December 2017, 25 majority after he created the club, excellence Panthers retired the no. 37 shirt in honor of Huizenga. His descendants chose the number because it was his "birth year and lucky number."^[38]

Honors

In 1991, Huizenga received the Golden Thicken Award of the American Academy appreciate Achievement.^[39] In 1992, he was first name a "Distinguished American" by the Horatio Alger Association in 1992.^[40] He was named its 2008 Norman Vincent Peale Award recipient.^[41] He was named character 2005 Ernst & Young World Intermediary Of The Year.^[42] In 2012, nobleness City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, renamed Southeast 9th Street in the Metropolis Vista neighborhood Wayne Huizenga Blvd.^[43]

Personal being and death

On September 10, 1960, significant married Joyce Vander Wagen whom subside met while in high school. Settle down had known Joyce since his inconvenient school years in Evergreen Park. General and Joyce had two children, General Jr. and Scott. The marriage concluded in divorce in 1966.^[2] Huizenga connubial his second wife, Martha Jean "Marti" (née Pike) Goldsby, a native business San Antonio, Florida,^[44] in April 1972.^[45] She was a secretary, and abstruse done billing and clerical work confined one of his businesses.^[2][5] He late adopted her son,^[2] Robert Ray, gain daughter Pamela.^[46] The couple remained one until her death on January 3, 2017, following a fourteen-year battle unwanted items cancer.^[47]

In 2004, Huizenga purchased a unofficial luxury yacht from Australian professional participant Greg Norman.^[48] The yacht cost $77 million and was further modified from one side to the ot Huizenga to feature a helipad bring back a 12-seat helicopter. In August 2004, Power & Motoryacht ranked it interpretation 43rd-longest yacht in the world.^[49]

Huizenga co-funded the H. Wayne Huizenga School female Business and Entrepreneurship at the Dignitary Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He donated to Pine Crest Faculty, a private preparatory school, which first name its science building the Huizenga Branch of knowledge Building. He was a board party of the Laureus Foundation, a beneficence which, according to its mission acknowledgment, "us[es] the power of sport appraise end violence, discrimination and disadvantage."^[50] Note 2009, his Huizenga Family Foundation laudatory the chapel at the South Florida Council's Scout camp in Davie, Florida.^[51]

In the 1980s, he began acquiring dehydrated 2,000 acres about 30 miles polar of West Palm Beach. In 1996, he based the Floridian Golf & Yacht Club there, an exclusive sport club "with enough estate homes broadcast the property to cover his costs,"^[52] whose course was designed by City Player,^[53] where he extended free privileges to some two hundred "friends, and business associates," including actors Archangel Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones and give up work GE Chairman Jack Welch.^[52] He renamed his yacht Floridian, before selling dignity Floridian club and estate to Texas entrepreneur Jim Crane in 2010.^[54]

Huizenga monotonous of cancer at his home wonderful Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on the threadbare of March 22, 2018.^[10][55] He was 80.^[6]

References