Bernard Marcus - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Bernard Marcus was born to Jewish-Russian immigrant parents in Newark, New Jersey. He grew up in a tenement and graduated from South Side High School in 1947. Marcus wanted to become a doctor but couldn’t afford the tuition, so he worked for his father as a cabinet maker through Rutgers University to earn a pharmacy degree. While there he joined the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He was also a brother of Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity.

Later, Marcus worked at a drugstore as a pharmacist but became more interested in the business and retailing part of the business. He worked at a cosmetics company and various other retail jobs, eventually reaching a position as a top executive with Handy Dan Improvement Centers, a Los Angeles-based chain of home improvement stores. In 1978, after a disagreement with his boss at Handy Dan, he and Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank were both fired.

Together, with the help of New York investment banker Ken Langone who assembled a group of investors and business partner Arthur Blank, they launched the highly successful home-improvement retailer The Home Depot in 1979. The store revolutionized the home improvement business with its warehouse concept and the three became billionaires as a result. He was the company's first CEO for 19 years and served as chairman of the board until his retirement in 2002. Mr. Marcus was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2006.

Marcus has opposed the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). He has also suggested that clients send donations to groups and Senate Republicans also against the EFCA. He views the legislation as hindrance to American Capitalism. Marcus has also been an opponent of the Occupy Wall Street movement.