Harry Wayne Huizenga was born 29 December 1937 at Little Company of Mary Hospital, Evergreen Park, ILL to Gerrit Harry and Jean Huizenga, both of Dutch descent. He would later be called by his middle name Wayne. His sister, Bonnie, is five years his junior.

The winter of 1953, his family moved to Florida. His parents divorced in October, 1954 and remarried in 1978.

Wayne dropped out of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI after three semesters and returned to Fort Lauderdale. He married Joyce VanderWagon 10 September 1960 in Chicago. He knew Joyce from high school in Evergreen Park. They had two boys, Wayne, Jr. and Scott. In 1966, they were divorced.

Wayne purchased a beat-up garbage truck from Porter’s Rubbish Service in Fort Lauderdale and about 20 commercial accounts. He was 25 years old and it was the start he needed. His father-in-law loaned him the money and in 1962 Southern Sanitation Service was formed. A few years later he merged with a garbage company that his grandfather had started in Chicago. By the time he was 34 he owned the biggest garbage company, Waste Management Corp.

In April, 1972, he married Marti Goldsby who worked in his office. He adopted her two children, Pam and Ray.

In 1984, he stepped down as vice chairman and started new adventures. He put money in small businesses, insurance, lawn care, bottled water, etc. In 1987, his business partner convinced him to visit a Blockbuster video store. They and some other friends, decided to invest in Blockbuster and they bought control of the company, which was then known as Blockbuster Video and owned 8 stores. In 1989, Blockbuster was listed on the NYSE and Waste Management had been there since 1973.

In 1994, at the last Blockbuster’s shareholders meeting, he stepped down as Chairman after they merged with Viacom, Inc. He could not be second in command. In the seven years he oversaw Blockbuster, he had built the company from 7 million to 4 billion.

He invested in sports – the Miami Dolphins and half of Joe Robbie Stadium in 1990 and in 1994 bought the rest of the stadium and team. In 1991 he purchased the Florida Marlins baseball team, in 1992 he invested in the Florida Panthers hockey team.

In 1995, he purchased Atlanta-based Republic Waste and renamed it Republic Industries. Its three industries being: home-security, billboard advertising and waste haulage.

He targets businesses for rental. He made his money on renting dumpster, not on hauling trash; Blockbuster revenues came from video rentals. He likes service companies with repeat business.