J. Hyatt Brown (born July 12, 1937) is an American billionaire businessman and politician in the state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Brown was born in Orlando and grew up in Daytona Beach. He attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

and works in the insurance industry. Brown sat in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

for the 31st district, as a Democrat, from 1972 to 1980. From 1978 to 1980, he was

Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives The speaker is the Speaker (politics), presiding member of the Florida House of Representatives. The Speaker and his staff provide direction and coordination to employees throughout the House and serve the members in carrying out their constitut ...

. In 2009, Brown retired as CEO of his insurance agency, Brown & Brown. In March 2018, he was worth an estimated $1.1 billion. In 2012, Brown and his wife Cici donated $13 million to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach for the construction of the Brown Museum, which opened in early 2015. In 2018, Brown and his wife donated $18 million to Stetson University and pledged $15 million to improve Daytona Beach's Riverfront Park.

References

Living people 1937 births Businesspeople from Orlando, Florida Politicians from Orlando, Florida Politicians from Daytona Beach, Florida People from Ormond Beach, Florida Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives American billionaires 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century members of the Florida Legislature {{Florida-FLRepresentative-Democratic-stub