Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot who has been an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump for years, has died, the chain announced Tuesday.
He was 95.
Marcus, whom Forbes has previously listed as the richest man in Georgia, became wealthy after he and Arthur Blank opened the first two Home Depot stores in 1979 in Atlanta. The hardware store chain defined by its orange theme has since grown to 2,300 locations in North America with nearly half-a-million employees.
![Bernie Marcus, left, and Arthur Bank, right](https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/11/05/USAT/76064355007-marcus.jpg?width=660&height=660&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
In 2022, Marcus penned a memoir, “Kick Up Some Dust: Lessons on Thinking Big, Giving Back, and Doing It Yourself,” with a foreword by Pitbull that chronicles the building of the world’s largest home improvement retailer by the son of a cabinet maker who was fired at age 49.