Former Blockbuster owner Wayne Huizenga dies at 80
He was not on the list.
Wayne Huizenga, the former owner of Blockbuster
Entertainment and three Florida sports teams, has
died at the age of 80.
The college dropout made his fortune in waste disposal,
founding Waste Management, now a publicly traded company worth more than $35bn.
Mr Huizenga later expanded into car dealerships, hotels and
video, turning Blockbuster into a major brand.
He sold Blockbuster to Viacom in 1994 in a deal then-valued
at $8.4bn.
"I'd rather build a company than manage one," he
told The Wall Street Journal that year.
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Mr Huizenga was born into the garbage business, with a
grandfather who founded Huizenga & Sons, a Chicago garbage-hauling company
in 1894.
He created Waste Management from a single garbage route in
South Florida that he purchased in 1962, transforming it into a global giant
through mergers and acquisitions.
He stepped down from the company in 1984, but continued to
spot opportunities to build empires in fragmented industries, investing in
laundries and bottled water companies.
He invested in Blockbuster in 1987, turning it from a
company with less than 20 locations to more than 1,600 less than five years
later.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Mr Huizenga owned three professional sports
teams, but sold all of them by 2009
After selling Blockbuster in 1994, Mr Huizenga turned to car
dealerships with AutoNation and hotels through Extended Stay America.
He also used his wealth to purchase the Florida Marlins and
Panthers as well as the Miami Dolphins sports teams.
Known for a relentless work appetite, Mr Huizenga told
reporters that he rarely went to the movies and did not own a video cassette
recorder (VCR) when he invested in Blockbuster.
"We get in early, go home late, travel after hours,
have meetings on the plane," Blockbuster's chief marketing officer told
the New York Times in 1991.
"Wayne sets the pace and everybody needs to move at
that pace."
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