1. Bernard Marcus was an American billionaire businessman.
37 Facts About Bernard Marcus
1. 2.
Bernard Marcus was the company's first CEO and first chairman until retiring in 2002.
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Bernard Marcus was a major donor to the Republican Party, including Donald Trump's presidential campaigns.
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Bernard Marcus was the youngest of four children and grew up in a tenement.
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Bernard Marcus graduated in 1947 from South Side High School.
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Bernard Marcus wanted to become a doctor, and was accepted to Harvard Medical School, but could not afford the tuition.
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Bernard Marcus graduated from Rutgers University with a pharmacy degree.
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Bernard Marcus was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.
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Bernard Marcus initially worked at a drugstore as a pharmacist but later moved to the retailing side of the business.
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Bernard Marcus worked at a cosmetics company and various other retail jobs.
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Bernard Marcus worked for Odell Inc in California beginning in 1968 and then joined Daylin in Los Angeles in 1970.
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Bernard Marcus became the CEO of Handy Dan Improvement Centers, a Los Angeles-based chain of home improvement stores.
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Bernard Marcus served as the company's first CEO until May 1997 and served as chairman of the board until his retirement on May 31,2002.
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Bernard Marcus was succeeded as CEO by Blank, who served until December 2000.
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Bernard Marcus was inducted into the Junior Achievement US Business Hall of Fame in 2006.
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Bernard Marcus was one of several business tycoons who opposed the Employee Free Choice Act, a proposal they claimed gave unfair advantage to labor unions.
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In 2010, Bernard Marcus founded the Job Creators Network, a conservative advocacy group, with $500,000 in seed funding.
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In 2012, Bernard Marcus donated $10.7 million to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, the maximum personal donation one can make, and was the biggest contributor to the campaign.
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In 2015, Bernard Marcus donated $1.5 million to super political action committees, supporting Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.
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On June 1,2016, Bernard Marcus publicly announced his support for Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump.
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Bernard Marcus was one of Trump's largest donors, giving $7 million to his campaign.
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When Bernard Marcus announced in 2019 that he would financially support the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign, it triggered calls for a boycott of Home Depot.
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Together with his spouse, Bernard Marcus contributed $731,200 directly to Trump's 2020 presidential campaign and $10.7million to political action committees supporting Trump.
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In 2023, Bernard Marcus announced he would back Trump's third consecutive campaign.
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Bernie and Billi Bernard Marcus were signatories of The Giving Pledge, a commitment to give away the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
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The previous year, Bernard Marcus was recognized as one of the Top 10 individuals who gave or pledged the most to charity in the United States.
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Bernard Marcus was the chairman of the Bernard Marcus Foundation, whose focuses include children, medical research, free enterprise, military veterans, Jewish causes, and the community.
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Bernard Marcus was on the Board of Directors and an active volunteer for the Shepherd Center.
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In May 2005, Bernard Marcus was awarded the Others Award by The Salvation Army, their highest honor.
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In 2012, Marcus was awarded the William E Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
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Bernard Marcus co-founded the Israel Democracy Institute in 1991, contributing $5 million for the construction of the institute's building in Jerusalem's Talbiya neighborhood and investing hundreds of millions of shekels in its ongoing operation over the years.
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Bernard Marcus heavily contributed to the launch of Georgia Aquarium, which opened in downtown Atlanta in 2005 based mostly on the $250 million donation for the aquarium.
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Bernard Marcus funded and founded The Bernard Marcus Institute, a center for the provision of services for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities.
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Bernard Marcus founded and donated $25 million to Autism Speaks to spearhead its efforts to raise money for research on the causes and cure for autism.
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Bernard Marcus was an active member of the board of directors.
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Bernard Marcus ran her own charity, The Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation.
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Bernard Marcus died from natural causes at his home in Boca Raton, Florida on November 4,2024, at age 95.