Lawrence Horne "Larry H." Miller (April 26, 1944 – February 20, 2009) was a Utahbusinessman and philanthropist who was well known as the owner of the NBA's Utah Jazz and the of Triple-A baseball team, the Salt Lake Bees, 41 automotive dealerships throughout the Western United States, and a variety of other business ventures including Prestige Financial, Jordan Commons (a restaurant and entertainment complex), Megaplex Theatres, KJZZ-TV, Miller Motorsports Park, the FANZZ chain of sports apparel stores, the advertising agency Saxton Horne - named after Miller's wife's maiden name and his middle-name, and the EnergySolutions Arena (formerly the "Delta Center"), all of which are still owned by the family's Larry H. Miller Group of Companies.

 

Business accomplishments

Miller formed a business partnership with William Horne to purchase a Toyota dealership in the Salt Lake Citysuburb of Murray, Utah. It opened on May 1, 1979 as Larry H. Miller Toyota. In October 1981, Miller bought out his uncle's share in the business. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he acquired a number of automobile dealerships in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, creating the Larry H. Miller Automotive Group. In 2007, Selling Power listed him as the tenth largest U.S. automotive dealer, with forty-two dealerships and sales of $2,327,000,000.

 

After a failed attempt to start a television outlet on the last remaining VHF frequency in the Utah market, Miller purchased Salt Lake City independent station KXIV in February 1993. He later changed the call letters to KJZZ-TV as a reference to the Jazz.

 

Miller also owned the Larry H. Miller Megaplex, Prestige Financial, Miller Motorsports Park (opened in 2006), Fanzz (a chain of sports clothing & memorabilia outlets), and the successful Jordan Commons cinema/restaurant complexes along the Wasatch Front. There are five Megaplex Theaters located in shopping centers along the Wasatch Front; the Gateway Mall in downtown Salt Lake City, at the aforementioned Jordan Commons in Sandy, at The District in South Jordan, at The Junction in Ogden, and at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. Together the theaters total 70 screens. In late 2010 another theatre location in Centerville, Utah was announced. In 2010 the Megaplex at Thanksgiving Point started showing large format movies on the Mammoth Screen.