Bernie Marcus, the billionaire co-founder of The Home Depot who transformed American home improvement retail and later became a prominent Republican donor, died Tuesday at age 95, the company announced.
Marcus, along with Arthur Blank, founded The Home Depot in 1978, revolutionizing the hardware store concept with larger stores and better-trained staff. Under his leadership as CEO until 1997, the company grew into a retail giant that today boasts 2,300 stores and a market value of nearly $400 billion.
Marcus was born in 1929 to Russian Jewish immigrants in Newark, New Jersey.
Although he came from humble beginnings, he rose to amass a fortune estimated at $7.4 billion.
After earning a degree from Rutgers University, he had a fateful meeting with future partner Arthur Blank at Handy Dan Home Improvement. Their firing from that company sparked the creation of what would become The Home Depot.
He also emerged as a significant force in philanthropy and politics. In Atlanta, where Home Depot was founded, he and his wife Billi established the Marcus Autism Center at Emory University and donated $250 million to create the Georgia Aquarium. His charitable work extended to numerous Jewish and medical organizations.
During the last few years, Marcus gained additional prominence as a major Republican donor and vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump.
His political activism occasionally sparked controversy, including attempted boycotts of Home Depot in 2016 and 2019. He made headlines in 2022 for criticizing what he called the spread of "socialism" in America, telling the Financial Times that "nobody works" anymore.
"The entire Home Depot family is deeply saddened by the death of our co-founder," the company said. "He was a master merchant and retail visionary who valued our associates, customers and communities above all. He's left us with an invaluable legacy and the backbone of our company: our values."
CNN contributed to this article.
