Dealmakers wield clout in public and behind the scenes in Utah

Thirty-eight car dealerships. The Delta Center. The Utah Jazz. Jordan Commons. Four dozen stretch T-shirts and about 1,000 ideas a day.

That's Larry H. Miller — Utah's top dealmaker. So say 30 insiders who helped the Deseret News pick the most influential people in the state.

He's followed in that honor by industrialist/philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr., Gov. Mike Leavitt and local developer Kem Gardner — also ranked as top dealmakers in Utah.

Miller says he's probably seen as a dealmaker because of some his high-profile acquisitions and developments.

In recent years his face is seen all over TV — car ads for his dealerships, giving Jazz players high fives during pre-game introductions.

Miller is affable, candid and accessible — three things the media love.

"Boy, I'm kind of opening myself up here," Miller told two Deseret News reporters during an interview where he talked about his business philosophies, his manic work habits and personal aspects of his family life.

A confessed workaholic who today regrets missing much of his children's upbringing, Miller said he "almost died" while overseeing the Delta Center construction a decade ago. "I was working 20-hour days for nearly 200 days straight. Sometimes I honestly thought it would kill me."

Miller is pleased to be called a dealmaker. "To me, that's meaningful. I suppose some of that is ego. It's gratifying that people think of me in those terms. I consider that a compliment, something worthwhile to be known for."

As his Jordan Commons restaurant/entertainment facility is finishing up, Miller said he has no immediate plans for another "big deal." But something will come up. "It always does."

Huntsman, the No. 2 dealmaker, is the owner of the largest privately held petro-chemicals company in the world.

Not only has he acquired, over the past 20 years, chains of chemical firms throughout the world, he's brokered a number of civic-minded deals behind the scenes while starting a world-class cancer research center at the University of Utah Medical Center.

"My life has been for 40 years a series of acquisitions," Huntsman said. So he can understand why he would be ranked in the dealmaker category.