BIZWATCH

By BERNARD BAUMOHL, DANIEL KADLEC, VALERIE MARCHANT, CHRISTOPHER OGDEN, STACY PERMAN AND BILL SAPORITO

HE PLANNED IT. HE DID IT. MEET THE NEW KING OF CARS

H. Wayne Huizenga is driving in the passing lane. Since Jan. 1, the billionaire entrepreneur has gone from neophyte car man to the nation's biggest car retailer. His Republic Industries has bought up new- and used-car dealerships whose revenues totaled $2.7 billion last year. That will make Republic bigger than current numero uno Hendrick Automotive Group of Charlotte, North Carolina, with $2.3 billion, Automotive News reports. TIME first detailed Huizenga's plans for a dealership-acquisition binge in December. Then, Huizenga, 59, had little more than a blueprint and a shopping list.

Now, the man who built Blockbuster and trash collector Waste Management has acquired 36 dealers for about $550 million in stock. He's also opened seven AutoNation and three ValuStop used-car lots. Wall Streeters expect him to spend $5 billion in three years buying dealerships, consolidating yet another mom-and-pop industry.

IN DENG'S DEBT

Put this in the asset column of China's late Deputy Premier Deng Xiaoping: his market reforms helped make China one of America's biggest creditors. Awash in dollars from exports, China now buys more U.S. Treasuries than even the Japanese--$12.1 billion in U.S. notes and bonds through the first nine months of 1996,vs. the $11.6 billion Japan purchased. China owns more than $43 billion of U.S. Treasury debt, the world's fifth largest hoard, and moving up.

By investing in Treasuries, China is helping keep our interest rates low. On the other hand, money talks, and the Chinese might get louder when it comes to settling touchy disputes on trade--or Taiwan. Much louder. Last week Washington reported that America's trade deficit with China jumped to an all-time high in 1996 to $39.5 billion, a gap expected to widen, giving the Chinese yet another fistful of dollars with which to go shopping for U.S. bonds.

AN AMBASSADOR'S MISFORTUNE

How do you create a small fortune? Start with a large one. The late Pamela Harriman, British-born U.S. ambassador to France, went through money faster than husbands, and her amazing social and political skills stood in stark contrast to her investing acumen. She seems to have squandered most of the more than $100 million she inherited from her third husband, New York Governor and Ambassador W. Averell Harriman. Her estate: some $15 million to $20 million, mostly in jewelry, property and art.

The Democratic doyen had already paid more than $10 million to Averell's heirs, who had accused her and her advisers of blowing $40 million outright, including $20 million on a doomed hotel project in New Jersey. She also spent lavishly on herself. Alas, she didn't die smartly either. According to the Washington Post, she did not set up a trust to shelter the estate from taxes, so her heirs will receive a hefty bill from the IRS.

RADIO IS TUNED IN TO ACQUISITIONS

Sure, new media types are in love with Webcasting, but the hottest medium is Marconi's. We're talking radio--deregulation has put the industry in play. Last year some 2,100 stations were sold for a total of $15 billion. Some stations have changed hands three times.

Last week a three-way deal created the largest radio-only company in the country: Chancellor Media Corp. The new outfit combines Evergreen Media Corp. and Chancellor Broadcasting Co., which is controlled by investment firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and is valued at about $1.5 billion. The company will then buy 10 stations from media giant Viacom for $1.075 billion.

Chancellor Media will own 103 radio stations in 21 markets, and a dominant share in 11 of the 25 largest radio markets--for example, a 15% bite of New York City's airwaves. Only Westinghouse/CBS is bigger, thanks to its purchase last year of Infinity Broadcasting for $4.9 billion. Does consolidation mean homogenization? No, says Evergreen CEO Scott K. Ginsburg. Stations succeed only on the virtue of their programming. Says he: "The audience has no idea when they press a button which company owns the station."