and another from trash -- building a multibillion dollar corporation has become a breeze. Managing his latest creation, though, will pose a completely different challenge.

Mr. Huizenga's previous big ventures have been concentrated in specific industries. But with last month's agreement, under which his Republic Industries Inc. agreed to acquire Bermuda-based ADT Ltd. for stock currently valued at $4.39 billion, Mr. Huizenga is creating an eclectic empire of garbage, home burglar alarms and used cars.

What is more, Mr. Huizenga, who is partners with Bermuda resident Michael DeGroote in Republic, says he is far from finished making his diversifying moves. He says he expects to enter at least one or two more industries over the next few years, although he hasn't decided which ones.

Indeed, Republic Industries, his current takeover vehicle, is such an odd financial animal that few analysts on Wall Street bother to cover the company, leaving a void of detailed investment analysis. "Most of the solid-waste analysts got frustrated and dropped out months ago,'' says Mari Bari of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell/C.J. Lawrence. "Now some of the auto guys are getting interested.'' Some of those that do pay attention to Republic's activities question Mr.

Huizenga's ability to juggle so many different interests while continuing to make acquisitions. Without necessarily doubting his abilities, sceptics note that loose conglomerates of unrelated interests have fallen out of favour recently. More and more companies have shed noncore businesses to focus on one main industry.

"The lesson has been that unrelated acquisitions usually don't pay off,'' said Mitchell Marks, a San Francisco management consultant who has written extensively on mergers and acquisitions.

But major shareholders and top executives of Republic say Mr. Huizenga is simply applying the same formula that he did in creating his other two success stories -- Waste Management Inc., a Chicago-based solid-waste giant that is now known as WMX Technologies Inc., and Blockbuster Entertainment Corp., the video chain based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that was sold to Viacom Inc. in 1994. He makes rapid acquisitions with company stock, keeps headquarters operations to a bare minimum and hires an elite team of managers to run the show.

Executives say it is still too early to tell precisely how Mr. Huizenga will structure and manage what will be a greatly enlarged Republic after completion of the deal to buy ADT, which has headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida. The acquisition would more than double Republic's revenue in 1996, pushing it to over $2 billion a year. For 1997, Republic projects even stronger growth to about $5 billion in revenue as a result of additional acquisitions and internal growth.

Stephen Berrard, chief of Republic's auto business and soon-to-be president and chief operating officer of the parent, said the corporate headquarters will have a limited role -- developing information and accounting systems, legal functions and communications for its major units. Each of the businesses will be run by a division chief who will be responsible for the unit's profit and losses.

"The key with Wayne has been to get the best people and provide strategic direction,'' said Mr. Berrard. "But he lets the field make the operating decisions.'' Mr. Berrard said that at the height of its growth, with $3 billion in revenue, Blockbuster only had about 200 staffers at its headquarters. Republic, with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., currently employs about 50, and J.

Ronald Castell, a Republic vice president, said he expects that number "won't get too much higher, but we're not sure.'' Company executives also said Mr. Huizenga is used to juggling different businesses. Huizenga Holdings, his venture before Blockbuster, had investments in everything from bottled water to lawn-care products. "People who know Wayne know he's not a one-trick pony,'' said Mr. Castell.

Mr. Huizenga is also counting on many of the same deputies who helped him build Waste Management and Blockbuster to help him at Republic: Mr. Berrard was the president and chief operating officer of Blockbuster; Harris Hudson, formerly with Waste Management, is running Republic's waste business; Thomas Gruber, formerly marketing manager of Blockbuster, is marketing the used-car lots.

Moreover, Republic officials aren't shy about using a much-scoffed-at term, "synergy''. Mr. Berrard said, for instance, that customers could get a discount on an ADT car-alarm system when they buy a car at Republic's used-car business, AutoNation USA.

"We don't see them as all that different,'' he said of the enlarged Republic's array of businesses. "They're all consumer-oriented companies.

They all deal with providing a service to the consumer.'' Mr. Huizenga has also argued that both the solid-waste and electronic-security businesses provide a steady cash flow since consumers rarely change their garbage haulers or electronic security companies.

Still, each of Republic's businesses comes with its own set of unique challenges. The garbage-hauling industry has become increasingly competitive, with weak margins and slow internal growth. The only real growth, analysts said, is coming through acquisitions. The electronic security industry remains a largely regional business: Even ADT, with the greatest national lead, commands only seven to eight percent of the market.

AutoNation, meanwhile, faces competition from several companies, including the CarMax unit of Circuit City Stores Inc. and Driver's Mart Worldwide Inc. All of the companies have announced similar plans to develop used-car superstores, where customers can browse lots of between 500 and 1,000 cars with fixed prices. Just this month, CarMax announced it planned to open 80 to 90 stores by 2001 -- a plan roughly in line with Republic's.

"There's going to be competition,'' said Nick Colos of NatWest Securities.

"But I think there's plenty of room for all the players.'' Major shareholders are also convinced of Mr. Huizenga's dexterity.

"Yes, these are very different industries with no economies of scale on a day-to-day basis,'' says Randall E. Haase, portfolio manager at Alliance Capital Management L.P., which holds stock in both ADT and Republic. "But the skill sets are the same-quick rollouts, managing rapid growth. Wayne knows how to find seasoned executives to get the job done.'' -- The Wall Street Journal Groote, Wayne Huizenga's partner in Republic Industries.