“I wanna be rich”, says a line from a cheesy 80’s song, sung by a band whose name escapes memory at the moment. Apart from the song’s outward cheesiness, one really annoying thing about it is the way it repeatedly states the obvious. In today’s material world, who doesn’t want “money, lots and lots of money”? Monks perhaps, but they comprise just a tiny fraction of the world’s population. Everybody else wants to be rich.
Unfortunately for about 95% of us, only a fortunate few ever get to become that rich. Among those fortunate few are these gentlemen from Florida who have consistently made it to Forbes’ list of richest men.
With a net worth of over $3 billion, Micky Arison is the wealthiest man in the entire State of Florida. He took over Carnival Cruise Lines, which his father founded, and turned it into the largest cruise operator in the world. Daniel Abraham, on the other hand, created Slim Fast, one of the most successful weight-loss supplements of all time. He has helped millions of people all over the world lose weight with his creation, fattening up his net worth to about $1.8 billion in the process.
The oldest member of Florida’s elite rich list is Robert Edward Rich Sr., whose accumulation of a $1.8 billion fortune started with his development of a soybean-based whipping cream in the 1940's. He is also a minor-league baseball team owner.
Wayne Huizenga, meanwhile, literally started from scratch—or garbage to be exact. As a teenager, he worked for a friend who operated a garbage service, and eventually started his own waste management company. Now running AutoNation, the world's largest new and used car dealer, as well as owner of the Miami Dolphins, Huizenga is worth around $1.7 billion.
Another Floridian consistently making it to wealthiest men lists is James Martin Moran, the largest privately held foreign auto distributor and dealer with Southeast Toyota. The same goes for George L. Lindemann & family, a self-made billionaire who first hit it big with his soft contact lens patent, then went on buying and selling companies for the past 30 years. Currently the chief of natural gas company Southern Union, as well as the owner of Lindemann is the sixth richest man in Florida with a net worth of about $1.2 billion.
Rounding up the top ten wealthiest men in Florida are Arthur L Williams Jr., who built his fortune around the insurance business; Brothers James C. France and William France Jr., who control stock car racing's Nascar circuit; and 71-year old Mark McCormack, who acquired his $1-billion fortune by founding International Sports Management, or IMG, a giant in the field of sports management. Among the talents in his roster are Tiger Woods and football star Peyton Manning.
More information about the richest men in Florida, such as George Lindemann Sr. & George Lindemann Jr., can be easily accessed by visiting author Neil Crespi at neil-crespi.blogspot.com. With its frequent updates, his site will certainly keep you abreast of events that concern Florida's richest men.
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