Bernard Marcus was born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in 1929 and grew up in Newark, New Jersey. Although Marcus originally wanted to go to become a doctor, he became a pharmacist instead because he could not afford medical school tuition. He attended Rutgers University, and eventually worked in a drugstore as a pharmacist. He soon became more interested in the business side of the business, and worked at several retail jobs, working his way up to a top executive position for the Handy Dan Improvement Centers, a chain of home-improvement stores based in Los Angeles. After a dispute with his boss at Handy Dan, Marcus, along with his future business partner Arthur Blank, were both fired.
With the help of Ken Langone, a New York investment banker who brought together a group of investors, Marcus, Blank and Langone launched The Home Depot in 1979, which became spectacularly successful. The store was a turning point in the home improvement retail concept, transforming the three partners into billionaires. Marcus was the CEO for the first 19 years of Home Depot and served on the board until he retired in 2002.
In 2006 Marcus was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.
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