LM Otero/ AP After working in computer software, founder David Cook decided to open his own video-rental store in Dallas,. Rather than sink the $8.4 million into the now struggling company, he decided to put it toward a new business. In 1996, he based the Floridian Golf & Yacht Club there, an exclusive golf club "with enough estate homes on the property to cover his costs,"[51] whose course was designed by Gary Player,[52] where he extended free privileges to some two hundred "friends, relatives, and business associates," including actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones and retired GE Chairman Jack Welch. In addition, the company accelerated foreign expansion, augmenting its operations in Britain and planning for operations in Australia and the rest of Western Europe. In addition to these efforts to increase earnings in the United States, Blockbuster increased its foreign efforts. David Cook founded Blockbuster in 1985 and was published one year after it was founded. [citation needed]. The rent-by-mail chain, founded in 1997, capitalizes on the growing popularity of DVDs and by May 2002 has enough growth potential to attract just under $95 million in its initial public offering. In the early 1980s, he had grown Waste Management into one of the largest waste-disposal companies in the United States. The company considered selling audio cassettes and compact disks. [2] Huizenga married his second wife, Martha Jean "Marti" (ne Pike) Goldsby, a native of San Antonio, Florida,[46] in April 1972. david cook blockbuster founder net worth The founder of the company was a 29-year-old named David P. Cook. Under Antioco, the company revived its old tag line 'Make it a Blockbuster Night,' and sought to smooth out the problems with its state-of-the-art distribution system, which allowed it to use a customer database to determine store sites and inventory based on consumer preferences. 1997-2005: point to mostly unprofitable trend of BB . 1985: Founder David Cook had fallen on hard times when his software business suffered with a downturn in the oil and gas industry, where his main buyers were. Blockbuster revolutionized video stores by fixing anti-theft devices to their boxes, which allowed them to put the tapes and DVDs on shelves instead of behind the counter, for a better customer experience but persistent thieves figured out how to get them off or the contents out. After taking Waste Management public in 1971, he bought and expanded Blockbuster Video before selling it to Viacom for $8.4 billion in 1994. Along with heavy hitter investors like Ross Perot, Mort Meyerson, and Tom Tierney, they made Blockbuster Video worthy of its name. By August plans were in place to shut all remaining stores in the U.S. and cease the rent-by-mail service by November. He founded AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., and was the owner or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL), the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Florida Marlins (now Miami Marlins) of Major League Baseball (MLB). Viacom finally managed to buy a blockbuster. $150 million to commodities trader John Henry,[32] who would go on to sell the franchise in order to finance his 2002 acquisition of the Boston Red Sox.
