Starting with a single garbage truck in 1968, he grew Waste Management, Inc. into an entity that would become a Fortune 500 company. Huizenga aggressively purchased independent sanitation engineering 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 the United 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 formed AutoNation, 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 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, The Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, Florida, and several others in Naples, Florida and Arizona.
In 2004 Huizenga purchased the private luxury yacht Aussie Rules from golfer Greg Norman. The yacht cost $77 million and was further modified by Huizenga and now features a heli-pad for a twelve-seat helicopter. Aussie Rules was renamed Floridian and is still considered to be one of the most luxurious and famous such vessels (see List of motor yachts by length). The yacht can accommodate up to twelve guests and may be chartered for around $400,000 per week.[2]
