Arthur Blank: Co-founder of The Home Depot
Business Owner · Retail & E-commerce
Fired from Handy Dan in 1978, Arthur Blank co-founded Home Depot with Bernard Marcus, opened the first stores in Atlanta in 1979, and later bought the Atlanta Falcons.
About Arthur Blank: Co-founder of The Home Depot
Arthur Morris Blank (born September 27, 1942, in Flushing, Queens, New York) is an American businessman who co-founded the home improvement retailer The Home Depot. He owns four professional sports teams based in Atlanta: the NFL's Atlanta Falcons; Atlanta Drive GC of TGL, which won the SoFi Cup in 2025; Major League Soccer's Atlanta United FC, which won the 2018 MLS Cup; and a to-be-named NWSL expansion team. He is chairman of their parent company, AMB Group LLC. Blank was born to Jewish parents, Max Blank, a pharmacist, and Molly Blank, and has an older brother, Michael. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City and from the Babson Institute in 1963, when Arthur Young and Company hired him as a senior accountant. He later joined the Daylin corporation, rising to president of Elliott's Drug Stores/Stripe Discount Stores, and then moved to its Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers division, where Bernard Marcus was CEO and Blank vice president of finance. Both were fired in 1978 during an internal power struggle. That year Blank and Marcus co-founded Home Depot. New York investment banker Ken Langone assembled the initial investors, and merchandising expert Patrick Farrah helped the founders realize their vision of one-stop shopping for the do-it-yourselfer. The first two stores opened on June 22, 1979, in Atlanta, and the warehouse concept revolutionized home improvement, making Blank and Marcus billionaires. Blank spent 19 years as president and then succeeded Marcus as CEO, retiring from the company in 2001 as co-chairman. Sources: English Wikipedia (Arthur Blank, accessed September 2026).
Basic Information
Co-founder, The Home Depot; owner, Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United; chairman, AMB Group
Company Details
The Home Depot / AMB Group
Home Improvement Retail, Sports Ownership
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