Bernie Marcus was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1929 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents.
He and Arthur Blank co-founded The Home Depot in 1978, and now the company has 2,300 stores.
The former first CEO of Home Depot has decried younger generations as being "woke" and "lazy."
Editor's note: Taylor Nicole Rogers wrote a previous version of this story.
Marcus was born in 1929 in Newark, New Jersey, a city roughly 15 miles west of New York City.
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.
Source: Rutgers University
Marcus graduated from Rutgers University in New Jersey with a pharmacy degree in the 1950s.
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.
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.
Source: The Home Depot
The first two Home Depot stores opened in the metro Atlanta area in 1979 as part of the company's drive to run home improvement superstores, but they weren't immediate successes.
Marcus and Blank lost half the money they invested in the company during the first year the stores were open.
Source: Bloomberg
But the company caught steam, and Home Depot went public in 1981.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
Source: Insider
And in January, he decried "the woke generation," saying their "laziness" makes them bad business leaders.
Source: Insider
