American serial entrepreneur Wayne Huizenga has been named by professional services firm Ernst and Young as the World Entrepreneur of the Year for 2005 at an award ceremony held in Monte Carlo.
In its press statement, E&Y hailed Huizenga as the only person in history to have founded six highly-successful publicly-listed companies with three of them being Fortune 500 companies.
Huizenga, who currently owns National Football League team Miami Dolphins in the US, has founded companies like Waste Management Inc, the global leader in waste disposal, Republic Industries and Blockbuster Entertainment, which is a world leader in video entertainment.
Besides owning three professional sports teams in the US, Huizenga also created AutoNation, which was the US' first and the world's largest public automotive dealership.
According to E&Y, the judges identified the consistent nature of his success, his 'confident humility' and his pioneering of many new business models over the years as his winning characteristics.
"Even now, despite his uniquely successful track record, he remains as excited by his most recent idea as by his first," said Howard Stevenson, senior associate provost at Harvard University, and chairman of the jury.
Gregory K Ericksen, global head of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Programme, said Huizenga consistently took ideas to exceptional levels with deeply loyal teams.
"His personal qualities, the strength of his family relationships and his business leadership, have had far reaching social and economic impact across the globe," he added.
"He is a role model for every aspiring entrepreneur whether they are in Chicago, Copenhagen or Chunquing. His astonishing story of success will be an inspiration to every generation of entrepreneurs seeking to make a real difference," said E&Y's Chairman and CEO James S Turley.
