Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus dies at 95

Home Depot co-founder and philanthropist Bernard “Bernie” Marcus has died at 95, the home improvement chain announced Tuesday.

“The entire Home Depot family is deeply saddened by the death of our co-founder Bernie Marcus. We owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to Bernie. He was a master merchant and a retail visionary,” Atlanta-based Home Depot said in a statement. “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.”

He died on Monday at his home in Boca Raton, Florida, surrounded by his family, a company spokesperson said.

The billionaire, a major donor to Republican politicians, accumulated his fortune by starting The Home Depot with Arthur Blank in 1978, with the two building the hardware store into a giant retail chain that now operates 2,300 stores and employs more than 500,000. 

Marcus was the CEO of Home Depot until 1997 and served as its chairman until he retired in 2002. Bank retired from Home Depot in 2001 after serving as president, CEO and co-chairman.

Marcus had a net worth of $7.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

An outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump, Marcus and his spouse contributed $7 million to committees backing Trump’s 2016 campaign and nearly $8 million to Republicans in the 2018 midterms. As of September, he gave more than $1.8 million to back Trump in the current cycle.

Marcus in 2022 told the Financial Times he was worried about the future of capitalism, telling the newspaper he faulted “socialism” in America for people not wanting to work. “Nobody gives a damn. ‘Just give it to me. Send me money. I don’t want to work — I’m too lazy, I’m too fat, I’m too stupid’.” 

He founded the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute in 1991, and in 2003 gave $250 million to the state of Georgia to finance its aquarium in Atlanta.

Born in 1929 to Russian Jewish immigrants in Newark, New Jersey, Marcus grew up poor. He wanted to become a doctor but instead trained to become a pharmacist, graduating from Rutgers University in 1954.

In addition to his wife, Billi, Marcus is survived by three children.