Bernard Marcus

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Bernard Marcus (born 1929 in Newark, New Jersey) is a co-founder of Home Depot and philanthropist.

He was born to Jewish-Russian immigrant parents in Newark, New Jersey. He grew up in a tenement and wanted to become a doctor. He couldn’t afford the tuition, so he worked for his father as a cabinet maker through Rutgers University to earn a pharmacy degree.

Later, he worked at a drugstore as a pharmacist but became more interested in the business and retailing part of the business. He worked at a cosmetics company and various other retail jobs, eventually reaching a position as a top executive with Handy Dan Improvement Centers, a Los Angeles-based chain of home improvement stores. In 1978, after a disagreement with his boss at Handy Dan, he and Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank were both fired.

Together, with the help of New York investment banker Ken Langone who assembled a group of investors, the two launched the highly successful home-improvement retailer, Home Depot, in 1979. The store revolutionized the home improvement business with its warehouse concept and the two became billionaires as a result. He served as chairman of the board until his retirement in 2002.

Marcus almost single-handedly funded and launched the new Georgia Aquarium that opened in downtown Atlanta, Georgia in 2005. Based mostly on the US$200M million donation for the Aquarium, Marcus and his wife, Billi, were listed among the top charitable donors in the country by The Chronicle of Philanthropy in 2005.

Bernie Marcus also funded and founded The Marcus Institute, a nationally recognized center of excellence for the provision of comprehensive services for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities. In May 2005, Marcus was awarded the Others Award by the Salvation Army, its highest honor.

Marcus is currently chairman of the Marcus Foundation, whose focuses include children, medical research, free enterprise, Jewish causes and the community.