Billionaire Bernard Marcus said he plans to support President Donald Trump in his 2020 campaign.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Marcus likes what Trump has been doing as far as creating more jobs for Americans, being tough with China on trade, and the action he has taken regarding North Korea and Iran.
“He’s got a businessman’s common sense approach to most things,” said Marcus.
Marcus is the co-founder of Home Depot. He is also No. 337 on the Forbes list of the Richest People in the World and has a fortune of $5.2 billion.
Marcus and his wife Billi Wilma also supported Trump in his 2016 election campaign. The couple donated $7 million to Trump that year. During the 2018 midterm elections, the couple donated nearly $1 million, according to Open Secrets.
Marcus has also used his money for philanthropic works, many of which have centered around the Atlanta area, which is where the first Home Depot locations opened. Marcus supplied the funds to create the Georgia Aquarium. He also funded an autism center, a trauma center, and a stroke and neuroscience center in Atlanta, according to The Journal-Constitution.
Incredibly proud to support our associates in need through the @HomerFund with more than $850,000. #TakingCareOfOurPeople pic.twitter.com/JSj7vdGbmV
— Home Depot GR (@HomeDepotGR) June 13, 2019
Throughout his life, Marcus has donated around $2 billion to over 300 organizations around the world. He turned 90 this year, and wants to continue his philanthropy, The Journal-Constitution reported.
“Every day of my life, there are new challenges for me that I want to get involved with,” Marcus told the outlet.
Even at his birthday party, $117 million in donations were raised to give away to Marcus’s favorite causes, according to another article by The Journal-Constitution.
NYSE OPENING BELL- Mon. June 24, 2019- NAT MON0105-
Bernie Marcus, Co-Founder of Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD), to highlight the 40th anniversary of the first Home Depot store opening, rings Opening Bell. pic.twitter.com/QT5Da57ir3— CBS Newspath (@cbsnewspath) June 24, 2019
Marcus even has plans to continue giving away money after his death. His foundation will receive 80 to 90 percent of his wealth when he dies, and that money will continue to go towards causes Marcus supports, according to The Journal-Constitution. Marcus has already given the foundation very specific instructions about where the money should go.
Despite the detailed instructions, Marcus isn’t planning on stopping anytime soon.
“I want to live to be 100 because I want to be in a position to give it away to those things that I really believe in,” he told The Journal-Constitution.
Marcus and Arthur Blank co-founded Home Depot in 1978. The two men were both fired from hardware chain Handy Dan that same year, Entrepreneur reported. Kenneth Langone supported the two men with investment money, and made himself a co-founder alongside them, according to a Forbes profile. Home Depot is now Georgia’s largest public company by revenue, according to The Journal-Constitution. All three men are billionaires.
Blank and Marcus are of Jewish descent. Blank is of Italian descent and also owns the Atlanta Falcons NFL team and the Atlanta United soccer team.
Marcus also told The Journal Constitution his concern over antisemitism in America today.
“One area I’m really concerned about in the United States today and that’s antisemitism and anti-Israel in college campuses. I am very concerned about that. I suffered it when I was a kid. And I am seeing it come back today to what I had as a kid 80 years go.”
