OT: RIP Bernie Marcus
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Bernard Marcus, cofounder of The Home Depot and billionaire Republican megadonor, has died
New York (CNN) — Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, the billionaire Home Depot cofounder and a Republican megadonor, who in recent years became an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump, has
Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus’s net worth: From fired CEO to entrepreneur
Read Ken Langone’s biography years ago which has a ton of Home Depot and Bernie Marcus stories in it. Very interesting story and Bernie was a visionary in that retailing space.
Bernie was admitted to Harvard Medical School but couldn't pay the tuition.
I would always go to Home Depot over Lowes and Walmart since he went to Rutgers.
I'm not sure how much he cared about the uni and/or football
I remember reading someplace that they wanted him to make a 10k donation to the medical school, since he did not have the funds he studied Pharmacy instead.
Not to football, but:
In Atlanta, his contributions also included the Georgia Tech Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing.
"He dreamed of becoming a doctor. When his family couldn't afford medical school, he enrolled in pharmacy school and received a degree from Rutgers University. Bernie said he'd often cut classes to sell Amana freezers door-to-door."
Did not know this about him--
"The watershed moment in Bernie’s career came when he was fired from Handy Dan in April 1978, along with Arthur and Ron Brill. Bernie was faced with the prospect of reinventing himself at 49. He already had a vision of a one-stop shop for do-it-yourselfers, something that did not exist in the home improvement retail landscape at the time. Investment banker Ken Langone helped secure the financing to get The Home Depot started."
Remembering Bernie Marcus | The Home Depot
Bernie's StoryBernie Image Gallery
Story of a lot of successful RU alums.
I always find reading bios and stories like this very interesting, especially the ones when someone is knocked on their a$$ and they figure out a new path even later in life. I have this Bill Veeck bio sitting at my house that I haven't gotten around to reading - that may be next.Not to football, but:
In Atlanta, his contributions also included the Georgia Tech Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing.
"He dreamed of becoming a doctor. When his family couldn't afford medical school, he enrolled in pharmacy school and received a degree from Rutgers University. Bernie said he'd often cut classes to sell Amana freezers door-to-door."
Did not know this about him--
"The watershed moment in Bernie’s career came when he was fired from Handy Dan in April 1978, along with Arthur and Ron Brill. Bernie was faced with the prospect of reinventing himself at 49. He already had a vision of a one-stop shop for do-it-yourselfers, something that did not exist in the home improvement retail landscape at the time. Investment banker Ken Langone helped secure the financing to get The Home Depot started."
Remembering Bernie Marcus | The Home Depot
Bernie's StoryBernie Image Gallerycorporate.homedepot.com
Given the experience of many and me personally, that's probably more on Rutgers than Mr. Marcus.
Considering that Mr. Marcus was knocked off a career track at 49, that's impressive. He had a plan, took a chance, found financing and went for it.
Just looked up Bill Veeck-- how did you become interested in his story?
Care to expand? I've heard this over the years, and am perplexed not knowing the details. How does it seem that the other 49 State graduates I've met over the years, are very happy with their schools. But 1 out of 50 has a problem?
Interested in him growing up because I was a baseball fan and he always had something crazy going on out at Comiskey Park when he owned the White Sox - the outfield shower, the old-style uniforms with shorts, etc. He was always looking at different ways to get more fans out to the ballpark and entertain them. Disco demolition night didn't work out so well, though.
Sounds a bit like Charlie Finley (sp?) of the A's. From his wiki page- Charlie's ideas:
- Orange baseballs – Tried in a few exhibition games, but hitters found it too hard to pick up the spin. The week of August 18, 1975, Charlie Finley was on the cover of Time magazine and his orange baseballs were featured in the article.[31]
- A mechanical rabbit that would pop up behind home plate and deliver new balls to the umpire and was named "Harvey," at the A's home ballparks in Kansas City and Oakland.[32]
- Hired Stanley Burrell (who would later gain worldwide fame as MC Hammer) as executive vice president when he was just a teenager to be his "eyes and ears."[33]
- Offering players $300 bonuses to grow moustaches during the 1972 baseball season. For star relief pitcher Rollie Fingers, the handlebar moustache he grew for Finley became a trademark.[34]
Despite his reputation as a master promoter, Finley had less success marketing his team.
Not here. Athletics side is good about lathering up donors. The other side, formerly "The Foundation" (now they are both under The Foundation umbrella, has a lot to learn on how to handle donors and courting new donations. An awful lot.
Yup, he would be in that category, but many people remember him for the player fire sale after the 3 World Series. I have a book about those A's too that I need to get to!
I've been sitting on various rock and roll biographies myself. Always interested in reading band dynamics and dysfunction from a business standpoint and how to effectively handle and manage conflict between "players." But bands are special with huge egos fueled by drugs and alcohol. Think that managing a pro sports team has similar problems with less drugs (except for the 1980s).
Condolences.
Did he even care about Rutgers?
No presence of his benevolence towards Rutgers in any form that I know of.
GO RU
Did he even care about Rutgers?
No presence of his benevolence towards Rutgers in any form that I know of.
GO RU
Couple of things.
Is it a fact he never donated or just lack of publicity? Obviously, there is no Marcus Field House. Does this mean zero?
Second, and I'm talking about the 60's through 80's, the Rutgers' Development Office was a far, far cry from public universities like UNC, UVA, UCLA and Michigan. My late father was in the consulting business for schools and their Development Offices and that was his opinion. It looks to me like the last 15-20 years has seen an improvement, but they were starting far behind the "big boys".
Is it a fact he never donated or just lack of publicity? Obviously, there is no Marcus Field House. Does this mean zero?
Second, and I'm talking about the 60's through 80's, the Rutgers' Development Office was a far, far cry from public universities like UNC, UVA, UCLA and Michigan. My late father was in the consulting business for schools and their Development Offices and that was his opinion. It looks to me like the last 15-20 years has seen an improvement, but they were starting far behind the "big boys".
Yeah, I can see that. I recently finished the Jann Wenner/Rolling Stone bio - talk about dysfunction! It's a long book, and about a third of the way through, I'm like, "I hate all these people..." But at that point, I had gone too far and had to finish it.
He went to Rutgers Newark and never liked the school
Many, MANY other successful alumni have been involved. This guy was always a jerk. And not just about RU either.
Many, MANY other successful alumni have been involved. This guy was always a jerk. And not just about RU either.
RIP Mr. Marcus
You gave to causes you believed in and helped a lot of people.
As for your politics, that belongs on the CE board and I won't comment on that here.
As for why you seemed to ignore Rutgers when giving funds towards philanthropic causes,
this article might have the reason why if it was someone at Rutgers that told you what was in the article I'm posting here
Bernie Marcus - New Georgia Encyclopedia
"Although he was a good student, his hopes of attending Harvard Medical School were soon dashed when, in his second year at Rutgers, he was told that because he was Jewish he would have to bribe a medical school administrator in order to gain admission. Lacking the requested $10,000, Marcus settled on becoming a pharmacist and graduated from Rutgers in 1954."
You gave to causes you believed in and helped a lot of people.
As for your politics, that belongs on the CE board and I won't comment on that here.
As for why you seemed to ignore Rutgers when giving funds towards philanthropic causes,
this article might have the reason why if it was someone at Rutgers that told you what was in the article I'm posting here
Bernie Marcus - New Georgia Encyclopedia
"Although he was a good student, his hopes of attending Harvard Medical School were soon dashed when, in his second year at Rutgers, he was told that because he was Jewish he would have to bribe a medical school administrator in order to gain admission. Lacking the requested $10,000, Marcus settled on becoming a pharmacist and graduated from Rutgers in 1954."
Read the book, Veeck as in Wreck, when I was a kid. Excellent read
Maybe so, yet you’re on a Rutgers message board and support the athletics programs despite your experiences which says something must have resonated with you.
He was conservative so not surprising that he did not give to ultra liberal Rutgers. His money and he directed it to what he thought was best.
Makes sense. Why would he support an organization actively promoting many beliefs incompatible with his?
The obit I saw list big contributions to the Atlanta Aquarium and medical centers in the Atlanta area. It was a very apolitical list.
I thought he went to Rutger Newark. Like many posters believe that Rutgers New Brunswick isn’t the same as Rutgers Newark.
Yes very different experiences and connections for students. Not sure why some here think he should’ve had a connection to New Brunswick. Either way, it’s his money and he could do as he pleased.
Hyperbole. Always a jerk? Why, because you disagreed with things he said.
Was a he a jerk when he:
1. Funded the Marcus Nanotechnology Building, a state-of-the-art facility that features the largest cleanroom laboratory dedicated to the fabrication and assembly of biomedical and semiconductor devices in the Southeast.
2. Funded the Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing, which has been pivotal in advancing the manufacturing process of cellular medicines, making them more accessible and affordable.
3. Funded the CREATE-X initiative, backed by an investment from The Marcus Foundation, has empowered over 17,000 students to launch more than 500 startups, powered Georgia Tech’s startup culture, and inspired entrepreneurial engagement both nationally and internationally
4. Supported Jewish causes to ensure the Jewish people’s continuity, survival, and flourishing and to promote Israel’s democracy and self-sufficiency. This becomes activated through what Bernie believes is two sides of the same coin – fighting antisemitism/anti-Israel sentiment, particularly on college campuses, and promoting projects and organizations that instill pride within our youth.
5. Supported veterans and their families.
6. Supported in causes that impact the welfare of children, especially those underserved or with special needs, to ensure youth have the best possible future.
7. Funded the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady Health System, a leading destination for stroke care and research.
8. Funded the Marcus Autism Center.
9. Funded Avalon Action Alliance, which connects our nation’s veterans and first responders to life-changing care for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post-traumatic Stress (PTS), and Substance Abuse (SA)—the leading causes of the veteran suicide epidemic.
------------------------
This world could use a lot of jerks like this. It might actually become a much better place, with people more prone to take action and help their less fortunate neighbors and citizens, instead of stoking division and hatred on social media and message boards.
May the great Mr. Bernard Marcus rest in peace. A wonderful human being and philanthropist.
I believe the connection to New Brunswick is most forget about the RU Pharmacy School being in Newark and automatically think RU NB when thinking about his attending Rutgers.
As for his politics being mentioned, maybe we should take a page out of how Marcus and Arthur acted
"Though Marcus did not see eye-to-eye with his business partner Arthur Blank — a major Democratic donor — the two have continued to collaborate over the years, most recently on an initiative to combat political polarization, One Small Step Program, which brings together people with opposing viewpoints for civil conversations."
Bernie Marcus, Home Depot co-founder and major donor to Jewish causes, dies at 95
Born to Jewish immigrants from Russia, Marcus went on to become one of the most prominent philanthropists in the U.S., supporting Jewish and Zionist initiatives, as well as donating to Republican campaigns
ejewishphilanthropy.com
Yes - good point. The Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy has developed a great reputation but it wasn’t based in Newark back then. Being angry at this guy is wasted energy and a bunch of nothing.I believe the connection to New Brunswick is most forget about the RU Pharmacy School being in Newark and automatically think RU NB when thinking about his attending Rutgers.
As for his politics being mentioned, maybe we should take a page out of how Marcus and Arthur acted
"Though Marcus did not see eye-to-eye with his business partner Arthur Blank — a major Democratic donor — the two have continued to collaborate over the years, most recently on an initiative to combat political polarization, One Small Step Program, which brings together people with opposing viewpoints for civil conversations."
Bernie Marcus, Home Depot co-founder and major donor to Jewish causes, dies at 95
Born to Jewish immigrants from Russia, Marcus went on to become one of the most prominent philanthropists in the U.S., supporting Jewish and Zionist initiatives, as well as donating to Republican campaigns
The better question is "Who's the jerk here?" I think the answer is clear.
I don't think many here have any idea just what Rutgers-Newark looked like back in Bernie's day.
Or Newark South Side high school, which he graduated from.
My son spent three years in management at a not for profit with a multi-million dollar budget that was entirely funded by Marcus through a company he owned. Effectively, his donations were anonymous to the outside public.
Nobody here should make assumptions about whether or not he gave money to RU.
Nobody here should make assumptions about whether or not he gave money to RU.
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