Home Depot Co-Founder Gave to Trump, DeSantis, Decried 'Woke' Culture

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

Marcus was born in 1929 in Newark, New Jersey, a city roughly 15 miles west of New York City.

New York Daily News Archives

Source: Bloomberg

He was the youngest of four siblings, and they and his Russian Jewish immigrant parents lived in a tenement when he was growing up.

Heritage Images

Source: Rutgers University

Marcus graduated from Rutgers University in New Jersey with a pharmacy degree in the 1950s.

The Rutgers campus has manicured lawns and walkways. jass/Flickr

Source: Rutgers University

Now-defunct Los Angeles-based company Handy Dan Improvement Centers fired Marcus, then the CEO, and his future business partner Arthur Blank during a corporate restructuring in 1978.

Getty Images

Source: Fox Business

After the two were fired, Marcus and Blank founded Home Depot in 1978, with Marcus serving as the company's first CEO.

Rob Kinmonth/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images

Source: The Home Depot

Marcus and Blank lost half the money they invested in the company during the first year the stores were open.

Courtesy of The Home Depot

Source: Bloomberg

But the company caught steam, and Home Depot went public in 1981.

Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo

Source: The Home Depot

And today, more than 40 years after its founding, Home Depot has roughly 2,300 stores in North America and employs approximately half a million people.

AP/Elaine Thompson

Source: The Home Depot

In 2002, Marcus retired as chair of Home Depot's Board of Directors and today has a net worth of roughly $5.5 billion.

Richard Drew / AP Images

Source: Bloomberg

Marcus has three children and has been married twice, tying the knot with his current wife Billi Marcus more than 40 years ago.

Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic

Source: Atlanta Jewish Times

The Marcuses are noted philanthropists, giving a nearly $250 million donation to help open the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta in 2005.

Flickr

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

He has also actively given to Republican politicians, donating $64 million to political causes over the years such as the campaigns of former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Sen. John McCain, according to data from the Federal Election Commission.

Ric Feld, Evan Vucci/AP Images

Source: Insider

Marcus sparked a boycott of Home Depot in July 2019 after telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he would once again financially support the president in 2020.

Barry Williams/Getty Images

Source: Insider

Lately, he has made many controversial claims about today's work climate, claiming in a December 2022 interview that "nobody works, nobody gives a damn" anymore because of "socialism."

Fox Business

Source: Insider

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