Harry Wayne Huizenga drove a Florida garbage route before building Waste Management, Blockbuster, and AutoNation into three Fortune 500 companies | Hindustan Times
The entrepreneurial path of Harry Wayne Huizenga started with garbage collection, using one truck and one route among commercial customers in Florida. In 1962, he borrowed money to buy a $5,000 truck and acquire 20 commercial clients, then founded Southern Sanitation Service. This formed the beginning of his career, which spanned waste collection, video rentals, and auto sales, as published in the 2001 Academy of Management Executive article titled Wayne Huizenga: Entrepreneur and wealth creator.
Starting with Southern Sanitation in Florida, Huizenga built major companies across waste collection, video rentals, and automobile sales. His acquisition-driven approach transformed Blockbuster and AutoNation into industry leaders, while his ventures also included hotels, car rentals, and sports teams. (Wikimedia Commons)Huizenga expanded his original trash hauling company to success by merging Southern Sanitation with a company run by his widowed aunts to establish Waste Management Inc., which grew into the world’s largest waste collection and disposal company. He later entered the video-rental and automobile retail businesses, building Blockbuster and AutoNation into major companies. In 2000, AutoNation ranked 63 on the Fortune 500 list, according to the above-mentioned article.
Unlike the businesses that he built, Huizenga’s journey into business wasn't as smooth. He was born in Illinois in 1937, but moved with his family to Fort Lauderdale in 1953. Before entering into business, he spent his summers working for the family’s garbage company, served in the army, drove a bulldozer, and studied for three semesters at Calvin College in Michigan, The Washington Post reported in its 2018 obituary.
The Washington Post obituary mentioned Huizenga purchasing a retiring driver’s truck and route with money borrowed from his father. He picked up garbage in office buildings from 2 a.m. to noon every day, after which he would put on a suit and look for more clients. In six years, Southern Sanitation had grown throughout Florida.
Through the merger that formed Waste Management Company, Huizenga’s expanding venture in Florida and the Chicago-based business belonging to his family came together. The company went public in 1971. Huizenga relinquished control of operations in 1984, when The Washington Post estimated his worth at $21 million. Huizenga’s retirement did not last long; after five weeks, he was back in business, investing in real estate, hotels, and other companies before venturing into video rentals.
Huizenga acquired a string of 19 video-rental stores in 1987 and built Blockbuster to become one of the most successful companies in the video industry. The company was sold to Viacom in 1994 for $8.5 billion, according to the 2001 article.
According to the Washington Post, Huizenga first acquired a minority share, took control, and then expanded the chain worldwide. During the peak of home-video rentals, Blockbuster had about 4,000 stores. The Washington Post reported that Huizenga made a profit of $8.4 billion on an investment of $18 million.
It was a tactic that Huizenga knew well. He had previously brought small firms together in the field of garbage collection, and then used the same tactics in the video rental industry. Even though the companies were in different industries, Huizenga had spent his professional life buying up companies, merging them, and making them grow.
In 1996, Huizenga created AutoNation, a superstore for new and used cars. Although Huizenga had never personally sold a car, the company rapidly emerged as the largest retail automobile dealership in the country.
The Academy of Management Executive report indicates that the increase in ranking for AutoNation’s ranking in the Fortune 500 rose from 151 to 83 before reaching 63 in 2000. Huizenga's profile also mentions him as the chairman of Extended Stay America, Republic Services, and Boca Resorts.
The Washington Post also referred to him as the only man ever to have taken three companies to the Fortune 500. His companies also included the car rental firms National and Alamo, Boston Market fast food eateries, the lawn care business TruGreen, and the portable toilets firm Port-O-Let. The obituary stated that Huizenga preferred businesses that offered a steady income, like cleaning businesses and rentals, consolidating small players into large companies.
Huizenga gained widespread publicity through his ownership of sports teams in the 1990s. He bought shares in the Miami Dolphins in 1990 and became the owner in 1994. He also bought the Florida Marlins and the Florida Panthers. In 1996, the Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup finals, while the very next year the Marlins won the World Series. He eventually sold all three of his sports teams. Huizenga passed away at his Fort Lauderdale residence on March 22, 2018, aged 80.
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