William Horvitz

William Horvitz's father invited him to South Florida to help save the family's land-development business. Mr. Horvitz used the company, Hollywood Inc., to build most of Hollywood's biggest and most-successful commercial and residential properties. Mr. Horvitz, 73, died in Fort Lauderdale of pneumonia. Mr. Horvitz turned the once-struggling Hollywood Inc. into the largest development company in Hollywood. He sold it in 1988 for $300 million to developer Michael Swerdlow. After that sale, he founded DWLD Enterprises, Inc., an investment and brokerage company he ran closely with his son, David. William Horvitz was born in Elyria, a small town outside Cleveland, in 1926. After graduating from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1953, he moved to Broward County to help his father run his family's fledgling business. At the time, Broward County had a fraction of its current population and was a considered a visitors' community. Taking a risk, he bought huge parcels of land hoping the area would develop. The risk paid off, allowing him to spread his influence in the years to come by helping several Broward charities to raise millions of dollars. Among them are Women In Distress, the Hollywood YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, and the Jewish Foundation of Broward County. William Horvitz and his wife, Norma, have been closely associated with most of Broward County's charities.