American retail entrepreneur, pharmacist, and philanthropist Bernard Marcus has an estimated net worth of $9.62 billion as of January 2018. He is known to be one of the founders of Home Depot. He is considered as the first Chief Executive Officer of the company and he served as the Chairman of the Board until his retirement in 2002.

Bernard Marcus was born on 1929 in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Rutgers University where he completed his degree in pharmacy. After working as a pharmacist in a local drugstore, he realized that he was more interested in the retailing aspect of the business. He then started working in various retail jobs and eventually, he became a top executive for Handy Dan Improvement, a chain of home improvement shops based in Los Angeles. A disagreement with the boss led to the ousting of Marcus from the company, together with Arthur Blank, a Home Depot co-founder. In 1979, Home Depot was founded. He served as Home Depot's CEO for 19 long years. In 2006, Bernard Marcus was elected into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.