The story
Founded by Dean Buntrock and Wayne Huizenga in 1968.1
In 1893, Dutch immigrant Harm Huizenga began a garbage hauling business in Chicago, charging $1.25 per wagon. In 1968, his grandson Wayne Huizenga, along with Dean Buntrock and Larry Beck, founded Waste Management, Inc. and expanded by acquiring many of the smaller garbage collection services across the country. The company went public in 1971 and reached $82 million in revenue by 1972. At that time, it served 60,000 commercial and industrial accounts and 600,000 residential customers across 19 states and two Canadian provinces. In the 1980s, Waste Management became the largest waste hauler in the United States after acquiring Service Corporation of America (SCA).
From 1992 to 1997, executive officers at Waste Management, Inc. engaged in widespread accounting manipulation to artificially inflate the company's financial performance. This systematic effort involved mismanaged expense reports, such as refusing to write off costs from failed projects and improperly capitalizing various operating costs. The executives further distorted the balance sheet by establishing inflated environmental reserves during acquisitions to offset unrelated expenses, failing to set aside sufficient funds for income taxes, and manipulating depreciation schedules for equipment like garbage trucks. Additional tactics included assigning arbitrary salvage values to assets and utilizing "netting" and "geography" entries to obscure hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses behind unrelated gains or different income statement line items. Although leadership was accused of forcing the financial statements to meet desired targets, the top officers eventually settled with the federal government for $30.8 million in 2005 without admitting to any wrongdoing.
When a new CEO took charge of the company in 1997, he ordered a review of the company's accounting practices. In 1998 Waste Management restated its 1992–1997 earnings by $1.7 billion, making it the largest restatement in history.
In 1998, Waste Management merged with USA Waste Services, Inc. USA Waste Services CEO John E. Drury retained the chairmanship and CEO position of the combined company. Waste Management then relocated its headquarters from Chicago to Houston. The merged company retained the Waste Management brand. In late 1999, John Drury stepped down as chairman due to brain surgery. Rodney R. Proto then took the position of chairman and CEO. That year also brought trouble for the newly expanded company in the form of an accounting scandal.
In November 1999, a new CEO was appointed to oversee the company's recovery. The company has since implemented new technologies, safety standards, and operational practices.
On July 14, 2008, Waste Management made a $34 per share all-cash bid to acquire Republic Services, Inc., later raising it to $37 per share. Republic Services rejected both bids. On October 13, 2008, Waste Management withdrew the offer, citing financial market turmoil.
In 2015, Winters Brothers assumed all of WM's operations in Connecticut and New York (excluding New York City) and continues to service these regions under contract with the company.
In February 2022, CEO Jim Fish announced the company would shorten its trade name to "WM". This rebranding was intended to reflect a shift toward sustainability and environmental services, such as compressed natural gas and landfill gas utilization.
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In May 2024, WM announced a $7.2 billion deal to acquire Stericycle, an Illinois-based medical waste and paper shredding company. The acquisition was completed in November 2024.
From Wikipedia’s article on Waste Management, Inc., shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8