Bernard Marcus

Bernard Marcus (May 12, 1929 – November 4, 2024) was an American billionaire businessman. He co-founded The Home Depot. He was the company's first CEO and first chairman until retiring in 2002. As of November 2024, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$11 billion.

Early life

Bernard Marcus was born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Newark, New Jersey on May 12, 1929. He was the youngest of four children and grew up in a tenement. He graduated from South Side High School in 1947. Marcus wanted to become a doctor, and was accepted to Harvard Medical School, but could not afford the tuition. He graduated from Rutgers University with a pharmacy degree. He was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.

Career

Marcus worked at a drugstore as a pharmacist but became more interested in the retailing side of the business. He worked at a cosmetics company and various other retail jobs, eventually reaching a position as CEO of Handy Dan Improvement Centers, a Los Angeles-based chain of home improvement stores. In 1978, he, and future Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank, were fired during a corporate power struggle at Handy Dan.

In 1978, they co-founded the home-improvement retailer The Home Depot, with the help of merchandising expert Pat Farrah and New York investment banker Ken Langone who assembled a group of investors. The first two stores opened on June 22, 1979, in Atlanta.

The store revolutionized the home improvement business with its warehouse concept. Blank, Marcus, and Langone became billionaires. Marcus served as the company's first CEO for 19 years and also served as chairman of the board until his retirement in 2002. Marcus was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2006.

Marcus is one of several business tycoons who opposed the Employee Free Choice Act, a controversial proposal they claim gives unfair advantage to labor unions. The EFCA would outlaw conducting employee union votes with secret ballots while allowing fines and injunctions when employees show they are being punished for union activity on the job.

In 2010, Marcus founded the Job Creators Network, a conservative advocacy group, with $500,000 in seed funding.

Political activity

In 2015, Marcus donated $1.5 million to Super PACs supporting Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.

On June 1, 2016, Marcus publicly announced his support for Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump. He was one of Trump's largest donors, giving $7 million to his campaign. When Marcus announced in 2019 that he would financially support the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign, it triggered calls for a boycott of Home Depot. Together with his spouse, Marcus contributed $731,200 directly to Trump's 2020 presidential campaign and $10.7 million to political action committees supporting Trump.

In 2023, Bernard Marcus donated $2 million to the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC.

In 2023, Marcus announced he would back Trump's third consecutive campaign.

Philanthropy

Marcus was a longtime philanthropist who made plans to give away 90% of his $5.9 billion fortune to charity. Bernie and Billi Marcus are signatories of The Giving Pledge, a commitment to give away the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. As of 2019, he had given away $2 billion to various philanthropic causes and pledged to give away most of his fortune, which had doubled to $9.8 billion in 2024. The previous year, Marcus was recognized as one of the Top 10 individuals who gave or pledged the most to charity in the United States.

Marcus was one of the first signees of the Jewish Future Pledge, a charitable campaign launched in 2020 modeled after The Giving Pledge to encourage American Jews to designate at least 50% of their charitable giving to Jewish- or Israel-related causes. Marcus was chairman of the Marcus Foundation, whose focuses include children, medical research, free enterprise, military veterans, Jewish causes, and the community. Marcus was on the Board of Directors and an active volunteer for the Shepherd Center. One of his main initiatives was providing care for war veterans with traumatic brain injuries.

In May 2005, Marcus was awarded the Others Award by the Salvation Army, their highest honor.

He was named a Georgia Trustee in 2009. The award is given by the Georgia Historical Society, in conjunction with the Governor of Georgia, to individuals whose accomplishments and community service reflect the ideals of the founding body of Trustees, which governed the Georgia colony from 1732 to 1752. In 2012, Marcus was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.

Marcus co-founded the Israel Democracy Institute in 1991, contributing $5 million for the construction of the institute's building in Jerusalem's Talbiya neighborhood and investing hundreds of millions of shekels in its ongoing operation over the years. In 2016, Marcus and his wife Billi donated $25 million to the construction of the $133 million MDA Marcus National Blood Services Centre in Israel.

Marcus heavily contributed to the launch of Georgia Aquarium, which opened in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, in 2005. Based mostly on the $250 million donation for the Aquarium,

Marcus funded and founded The Marcus Institute, a center for the provision of services for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities. Marcus founded and donated $25 million to Autism Speaks to spearhead its efforts to raise money for research on the causes and cure for autism. He was an active member of the board of directors.

Books

In 1999, Marcus, along with Arthur Blank and Bob Andelman, wrote the book Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion.

Marcus, with Catherine Lewis, wrote a book titled Kick Up Some Dust: Lessons on Thinking, Giving Back and Doing It Yourself. The book debuted at The Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta (MJCCA) on November 6, 2022.

Personal life

Marcus was married twice. He had two children with his first wife, Ruth: Frederick Marcus and Susanne Marcus Collins. With his second wife, Billi, he had a stepson, Michael Morris.

Marcus died on November 4, 2024, in Boca Raton, Florida at the age of 95.