Bernard Marcus
Bernard Marcus is an American billionaire businessman. He co-founded Home Depot and was the company’s first CEO; he served as Chairman of the Board until retiring in 2002.
- Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank cofounded Home Depot in 1978 after being fired from their jobs at a regional hardware store.
- In 1981, Marcus, Blank and early investor Ken Langone took Home Depot public. All three men are now billionaires.
- Marcus, who signed the Giving Pledge with his wife in 2010, has given away over $1 billion to education, hospitals, and Jewish causes.
- He threw a party for his 90th birthday in May 2019 and raised $117 million for his favorite nonprofits. President Trump sent a personal note, too.
- Marcus was born to Russian immigrant parents, who sought the “golden land” in the U.S. and ended up in a fourth floor walk-up tenement in N.J.
- Marcus helped to open the Georgia Aquarium in November 2005.
