NEW YORK (AP) — Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, the co-founder of The Home Depot, a billionaire philanthropist, and a big Republican donor, has died. He was 95. Marcus died Monday in Boca Raton, Florida, surrounded by family, according to a Home Depot ...

After getting fired together from a hardware business in the 1970s, Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank set out to build their own retail chain. They started with a few stores in Atlanta and built Home Depot into a national powerhouse that made them both billionaires.

The Republican donor was also a prolific philanthropist whose numerous gifts included funds to build the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.