The billionaire co-founder of Home Depot and a huge Republican donor named Bernard “Bernie” Marcus has died, the company said Tuesday. Marcus was an outspoken backer of former President Donald Trump in recent years. Ninety-five.
“The death of our cofounder Bernie Marcus is deeply sad for the whole Home Depot family,” the company said in a statement. “Bernie deserves a lot of thanks from all of us.”
Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index says Marcus was worth about $7.4 billion. He became rich by starting The Home Depot with Arthur Blank in 1978. The two turned the orange-clad hardware store into a huge store chain with 2,300 locations and a value of almost $400 billion on the stock market.
Marcus was born in 1929 in Newark, New Jersey, to parents who came there from Russia as Jews. He was the youngest of four children. He graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in marketing and merchandising. After that, he worked for several store chains.
He met Blank at work. They both worked at a California chain called Handy Dan Home Improvement. After new management took over, they were both fired, so the two came up with a plan to open a new chain of hardware shops with better-trained employees. After that, the Home Depot opened.
Marcus was CEO of Home Depot until 1997 and then chairman of the board until he retired in 2002.
Atlanta was where The Home Depot began. Marcus and his wife Billi were well-known for their charitable work in that city. At Emory University, they opened the Marcus Autism Center to help kids with developmental challenges.
Marcus has also given money to a number of causes, including Jewish and medical groups. In 2005, he gave $250 million to help open the famous Georgia Aquarium.
“He knew a lot about business and had a vision for retail.” “What was even more important was that he cared deeply about our employees, customers, and communities,” the company said. “He left us with our values, which are the foundation of our business and a gift that we will never forget.”
Marcus is a very vocal Republican who has given millions of dollars to the campaigns of right-wing leaders like Trump, the late John McCain, and the current governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis.
Later in life, he often went on right-wing TV shows on Fox News and Fox Business, where he often talked about how much he supported Trump’s campaign for president. In 2016 and 2019, people who were against Trump tried to shut down The Home Depot because Marcus backed the Republican candidate for president.
He also told the Financial Times in 2022 that he was “worried about capitalism” and that “nobody works” in America because of what he called the spread of “socialism.” It doesn’t matter to anyone. “Just give it to me.” Please send me money. I don’t want to work because I’m too stupid, too fat, or too lazy.
“This place used to let people say what they wanted.” Markus told the newspaper, “We don’t have it.” “Wake people have taken over the world.” I think they won’t be able to hit me today. I am 93 years old. “What does Bernie Marcus matter?”
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