Home Depot co-founder, GOP donor Bernie Marcus dead at 95

Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot, has died at the age of 95. 

Marcus, who grew up in New Jersey, was the youngest son of poor Russian immigrants and became a self-made billionaire with a net worth of over $11 billion, per Forbes, after founding the home improvement chain with Arthur Blank in 1978, with the support of investor Ken Langone. 

Marcus, a longtime donor to the Republican National Committee, according to federal election records, was an early supporter of former President Donald Trump.

In one of his last interviews in November 2023, Marcus spoke with FOX Business senior correspondent Charlie Gasparino in a wide-ranging interview in which he blasted President Biden’s economic policies for exacerbating the rise in prices that consumers are facing.

"I never anticipated anything like what we’re going through," Marcus said of Biden at the time. "I wake up every morning and I say, ‘What is this dunce going to do today?’"

"He cut back drilling, he caused the inflation, the inflation caused every other problem for every businessman, for every American," Marcus said. "And the people that he’s supposed to represent – the poor people, the middle class – they’re getting killed today."  

FULL INTERVIEW: HOME DEPOT CO-FOUNDER BERNIE MARCUS

Marcus also founded the Job Creators Network, a small business advocacy group, more than a decade ago.

"Bernie Marcus was one of the great American business success stories," said Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the Job Creators Network. "But Bernie was so much more than a businessman. He was a visionary, a philanthropist, and a dedicated family man. While The Home Depot grew to become one of the nation’s largest businesses, Bernie never forgot the importance of small businesses to the economy and the country as a whole. He generously tasked JCN with preserving the small business economy against relentless big government attacks."

Marcus and his wife Billi, who founded the Marcus Foundation, have given more than $2 billion to various causes.

"Bernie Marcus’s legendary business success is matched only by his generous philanthropy," said Elaine Parker, president of Job Creators Network Foundation. "He didn’t just give back but paid it forward, helping preserve the free-market economy that enables the next generation of Home Depots."

"Bernie recognized that small businesses and entrepreneurship are the lifeblood of the American economy," she added. "And the best way to protect them is by defending capitalism, the only economic system that allows ordinary people to become entrepreneurs and financially independent."

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The couple is also part of "The Giving Pledge" along with Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and other wealthy individuals. The organization supports philanthropists who commit to giving a majority of their wealth to charity.

Home Depot went public in 1981 for $12 per share and is trading around $395 a share as of Tuesday. It has over 2,000 stores and employs more than 500,000.