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.
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.
Marcus was also a Republican party megadonor who has supported Trump’s election bids since 2016, as well as Trump-backed candidates.
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“Bernie was an inspiration in many ways. He was a master merchant and a genius with customer service,” Home Depot said in a statement. ”He loved our customers. He also loved the associates who made the company what it is today.”
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Marcus founded Home Depot with Arthur Blank
Born in 1929 to Russian Jewish immigrants, Marcus grew up in a tenement of Newark, New Jersey, according to Home Depot.
After attending…
