Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, the billionaire Home Depot cofounder and a Republican megadonor, who in recent years became an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump, has died, the company announced Tuesday.
“The entire Home Depot family is deeply saddened by the death of our cofounder Bernie Marcus,” The Home Depot said in a statement.
Marcus, who had a net worth of about $7.4 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, gained his fortune from establishing The Home Depot with Arthur Blank in 1978.
Born in 1929 in Newark, New Jersey, to Russian Jewish immigrants, Marcus was the youngest of four siblings.
He earned his degree in merchandising and marketing at Rutgers University and went into the retailing industry working for various chains.
The Home Depot got its start in Atlanta, a city where Marcus was a well-known philanthropist with his wife Billi.
Some Trump opponents attempted to launch a boycott of The Home Depot in 2016 and in 2019 because of Marcus’ support of the Republican nominee for president. »