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Fortune
Fortune
Sydney Lake

Billionaire Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus' foundation donates nearly $30 million toward stem cell research for heart attacks

(Credit: Getty Images—Erik Lesser/Liaison)

Before Bernie Marcus cofounded the now $343 billion home-improvement chain Home Depot, he dreamed of becoming a doctor.

Marcus, who died in November 2024 at age 95, enrolled in pharmacy school when his family couldn’t afford to send him to medical school. He would often skip classes to sell Amana freezers door-to-door, according to a memoir published by Home Depot, but he still received his degree from Rutgers University.

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