Just In: SoFla Businessman, Sports Team Owner Wayne Huizenga Dead

Wayne Huizenga, South Florida businessman and one-time owner of the Miami Dolphins, Marlins and Panthers, has died at 80-years-old, his family confirmed on Friday.

In 1993, Huizenga bought a majority stake in the Dolphins. He previously purchased 15 percent of the team from owner Joe Robbie in 1990.

Huizenga was the original owner of the Florida Marlins, bringing baseball to South Florida in 1993 and winning a World Series four years later before being vilified for a "fire sale" to bring loses under control. Huizenga sold the team in Nov. 1998.

When the NHL was looking to expand south, Huizenga started the Florida Panthers and saw them find instant success with a run to the Stanley Cup finals in 1996. 

Born in Chicago, Huizenga was involved in the founding of three Fortune 500 companies.

Saying he always felt Fort Lauderdale had unlimited potential for growing new business, Huizenga's first venture, Southern Sanitation, got its start in South Florida in 1968.

Wayne Huizenga was battling cancer.

The Panthers recently retired his lucky number, 37, in his honor.


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