A Round With Wayne Huizenga

American entrepreneur H. Wayne Huizenga didn't start out to build his own private golf course. When he began acquiring some 800 hectares about 50 kilometers north of West Palm Beach, Florida, in the 1980s, the co-founder of Waste Management Inc. and Blockbuster Entertainment Inc. began mapping plans to develop an exclusive golf club -- with enough estate homes on the property to cover his costs.

But Huizenga's plans took an unexpected turn several years later after a Mediterranean vacation aboard a friend's yacht. On the flight home, his wife, Marti, asked how much he thought their host paid for the 50-meter yacht. Probably $20 million, he replied. And how much more to maintain it each year? Probably $2 million to $3 million, Huizenga said, assuming Marti was finally ready to buy the big boat they had always talked about. But Marti surprised him. "Instead of buying a yacht," she said, "why don't we just keep the golf course for ourselves -- and invite friends?"