Bernard Marcus
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Bernard Marcus

Co-founder, The Home Depot, Inc.

Bernie Marcus is co-founder of The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer. He was Home Depot’s chief executive officer until May 1997, and served as chairman of the board until his retirement on May 31, 2002. He remains director emeritus and is Home Depot’s largest stockholder.

From September, 1972 to April, 1978, Marcus was chairman of the board and president of Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers, an operator of approximately 70 home improvement retail stores in the western United States. Prior to Handy Dan, he was president of O’Dell’s, a manufacturing conglomerate, and vice president of hard goods merchandising for Vornado, a discount retail chain.

Marcus currently serves on the boards of directors of National Service Industries, the New York Stock Exchange, Westfield Corporation, DBT Online, and is chairman of the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 1991, he and his wife, Billi, established The Marcus Center, an affiliate of Emory University, which provides a full array of services for people of all ages with mental retardation and/or developmental disabilities.

His additional civic involvement includes serving on the boards of: the Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta; The City of Hope in Duarte, California; the American Jewish Committee; and the Atlanta Jewish Foundation.

Marcus received a BS degree in merchandising and marketing from the School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University.