Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot and prominent philanthropist, died at the age of 95. He passed away on Monday in Boca Raton, Florida, surrounded by family, according to a spokesperson from The Home Depot.
Marcus played a pivotal role as Home Depot’s CEO during its rapid expansion over its first two decades and served as chairman of the board until his retirement in 2002. Today, Home Depot holds the title of the world’s largest home improvement chain. In recent years, Marcus was known for his outspoken support of former President Donald Trump.
“We owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to Bernie,” the company stated. “He was a master merchant and a retail visionary. But even more importantly, he valued our associates, customers, and communities above all. He’s left us with an invaluable legacy and the backbone of our company: our values and culture.”
Marcus’s story began in 1929 when he was born to Russian Jewish immigrants and grew up in a Newark, New Jersey tenement. Though he aspired to become a doctor, financial constraints redirected him to pharmacy, and he earned a degree from Rutgers University. Notably, Marcus often reminisced about skipping classes to sell Amana freezers door-to-door.
Marcus’s professional ascent began after college, working at O’Dell’s and the retail chain Vornado. By 1972, he had climbed to the position of chairman and president of Handy Dan Improvement Centers, part of the Daylin conglomerate. It was there that he forged a lifelong friendship with Arthur Blank.
The defining moment in Marcus’s career came when he was fired from Handy Dan in 1978, alongside Blank. Driven by his vision of a one-stop shop for do-it-yourselfers, Marcus co-founded The Home Depot at the age of 49 with Blank. Investment banker Ken Langone played a crucial role in securing the necessary financing to launch the venture.
The first Home Depot store opened in Atlanta the following year, and by 1981, the company went public. Today, Home Depot boasts more than 2,000 stores and employs over 500,000 people. In the past decade alone, annual sales have doubled, reaching nearly $153 billion in 2023.
Marcus was also deeply committed to philanthropy, supporting Jewish and medical organizations, and various charities. He was instrumental in building the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, one of the largest in the world. His philanthropic efforts will continue through The Marcus Foundation, which focuses on Jewish causes, children, medical research, free enterprise, and community support.
In the political arena, Marcus was a vocal and financial supporter of Donald Trump. Between 2016 and 2020, he donated nearly $5 million to the Republican Party, as tracked by OpenSecrets. Last year, Marcus expressed his endorsement of Trump for a second term in an op-ed for Real Clear Politics, outlining his reasons for continued support.
