2006 Wayne Huizenga

H. Wayne Huizenga, Jr. is the President of Huizenga Holdings, Inc. a diversified company that manages and owns the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, the Dolphins Stadium in south Florida, as well as investments in banking, resorts, marinas, yacht refit and construction, real estate, and outdoor advertising.  He is a 1985 graduate of the University of Tampa with a degree in Business.

Starting with a single garbage truck in 1968, he grew Waste Management, Inc. into an entity that would become a Fortune 500 company. Huizinga aggressively purchased independent garbage hauling companies, and by the time he took the company public in 1972, he had completed the acquisition of 133 small-time haulers. By 1983, he grew Waste Management into the largest waste disposal company in theUnited States.
Huizenga repeated his business success with Blockbuster Video, opening a handful of stores in 1987, and becoming the country’s leading movie rental chain by 1994. Eventually, Huizenga would also build and acquire auto dealerships, from which in 1996 he formedAutoNation, which has become the nation’s largest automotive dealer and a Fortune 500 company, and remains his most recent major business venture. Huizenga has been a five-time recipient of Financial World magazine’s “CEO of the Year” award, and was the Ernst & Young “2005 World Entrepreneur of the Year”.

In late 2004, he sold his ownership share in a group of hotels that included The Hyatt Pier 66 Hotel and Radisson Bahia Mar Hotel & Marina inFort Lauderdale, Florida, The Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, Florida, and several others in Naples, Florida and Arizona.

Mr. Huizenga, Jr. married his childhood sweetheart, Fonda Hix, in 1991. They have four children. Mr. Huizenga is actively involved in Vida Nueva Ministries. He serves on the board for the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association in addition to serving as founder and board member for Christian Community Foundation of South Florida, Board of Directors to Door of Hope Outreach, Inc., and on the steering committee for Impact XXI. He is honorary chairman for the Souper Bowl of Caring and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization.

Wayne, Jr. and his family attend Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauerdale.