Billionaire Bernie Marcus, who co-founded Home Depot when he was 49, died this week at his home in Boca Raton, FL; he was 95 years old.
Marcus was a big philanthropist and pumped billions into non-profits, projects, and organizations that benefitted communities in Georgia.
In all, the Atlanta-based Marcus Foundation that he and his wife, Billi, set up distributed well over $2 billion to more than 500 organizations.
His donations built and supported important Atlanta organizations, including: [h/t AJC.com]:
- The Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady Health System, which he funded to provide complex stroke care and research, including funding a clinical trial to address hemorrhagic strokes.
- The Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta, one of the largest such centers in the nation, working with thousands of children with autism every year. It is now an affiliate of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
- Georgia Aquarium, which he had built in downtown Atlanta. It has attracted millions of visitors and takes part in research and education.
- The Marcus Heart and Vascular Center at Piedmont Hospital.
- The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, which is based in Dunwoody and offers programs to people regardless of their religion.
- The Shepherd Center, where Bernie and Billi Marcus funded big expansions of the rehabilitation center to add space; grow outpatient services; build efforts tied to multiple sclerosis; and help military personnel who have brain injuries, post-traumatic stress or other mental health issues.
- At Georgia Tech, the Marcus Nanotechnology Research Center and the Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing.
“My family had no money — and look where I am today,” Marcus said on Fox in 2023. “It could only have happened in America.”
Today, Home Depot is worth more than $400 billion dollars.
“If there was one word that could describe my father’s activity in the world is that he was uniquely a founder,” his son Fred Marcus said.
Marcus and his longtime friend Arthur Blank founded The Home Depot in 1979.
“Bernie was a father figure, a brother to me, a mentor to me. In my eyes, a true hero in every sense of the word,” Blank said.
