Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot, has died, according to an internal memo obtained by CNN. He was 95 years old.
Marcus, a Republican megadonor worth more than $7 billion, started the hardware store with Arthur Blank in 1978. The company now has 2,300 stores and is worth nearly half a trillion dollars.
He was born in New Jersey in 1929 to Russian Jewish immigrants and got his education from Rutgers University in merchandising and marketing.
Marcus and Blank met while working at a home improvement store in California where they were both fired after new management took over.
They realized that changes were needed to the business model and that’s when Home Depot was born.
There was no immediate statement released from the Marcus family or Home Depot about details surrounding his passing.
Marcus was the company’s CEO until 1997 and served as its chairman until he retired in 2022, the report added.
He donated billions of dollars to the causes that mattered most to him, including Jewish and medical organizations, the report said.
He also gave a “$250 million grant that helped open the famous Georgia Aquarium in 2005” and donated millions to top Republicans like former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
In a 2022 interview with the Financial Times, Marcus said he was “worried about capitalism” in the U.S. because of the rapid spread of socialism.
“Nobody works. Nobody gives a damn,” He noted. “‘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.’”
“We used to have free speech here. We don’t have it,” Marcus told the newspaper. “The woke people have taken over the world. You know, I imagine today they can’t attack me. I’m 93. Who gives a crap about Bernie Marcus?”
Marcus endorsed Trump for president late last year, warning that the country was in serious danger after being run by Democrats.
“Many of our once-great cities have devolved into lawlessness with random violent attacks on innocent people, rampant looting, and large-scale homeless encampments,” he said. “There are rarely consequences for the wrongdoers because George Soros-elected prosecutors across America refuse to prosecute them.”
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“Moreover, our southern border is unprotected, and millions of people we know nothing about pour into our nation to receive care and benefits that we cannot afford to provide to our struggling military veterans,” he continued. “Worse, many of the border crossers may be gang members who commit violent crimes here. Schoolchildren across America cannot read, write, or do basic math, while our educational leaders tell us that they know better than parents how to raise our children.”
He noted that inflation has taken a serious toll on working families across America who were just struggling to feed and clothe their children.
“Sadly, I see these freedoms and values being eroded today as government gets bigger and weaponized against its political opponents,” he said.
Marcus said he was endorsing Trump because he believed that he was “the best person to take on and dismantle the administrative state that is strangling America.”
