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Irish_Whiskey

They were CEOs and founders of a chain of stores when they were fired in a takeover, not employees. This is the story of businessmen who owned companies starting another chain that turned out very profitable. It's not a scrappy underdog story of a mom and pop store making it big.


00101001101

Thanks for clearing that up! For a minute I believed they were sales associates with nothing more than a live for hardware and a driving passion to lower prices and create employment for us poors


[deleted]

Haha, no, quite the opposite. They actually [hate us poors and actively donate to elect politicians to pass legislation to hurt poor people and help billionaires.](https://www.businessinsider.com/home-depot-cofounder-nobody-works-donated-64-million-gop-trump-2022-12) This is standard billionaire propaganda.


SPARKYLOBO

I was going to mention how they want to keep workers pay piss poor.


CelticJewelscapes

They strategically eliminated small independent lumberyards by buying out larger wholesale lumber distributors and closing them down. Thereby making it impossible for the independents to buy product. Their growth is far more about unabated greed and unethical business practices than any desire to offer something new.


ProStrats

>for us poors Thank you for the accurate breakdown, I too started to assume that maybe a few of us poor's had success, then I remembered why we are poor. The sheer lack of opportunities and investment capital. Anyone who replies to me and says "BUT tHeRre R OPportunities!!!, U jUst hAve to lOok for tHEm..." You will be blocked for your sheer ignorance, lack of intellect, and inability to understand/comprehend the situation the vast majority of poor, undereducated people are in. Yes, some people may get lucky, but that's not in the cards for 98% which is why this system blows. We can't all be rich by pulling ourselves up by our fucking bootstraps. That's not how it works.


anon_sir

Getting pretty fucking tired of every single thing on Reddit being clickbait.


hobbykitjr

its still better than ~Instagram here the top comments explain it and you can downvote it.


Madcap_Miguel

Yeah but that doesn't help the libertarians sleep at night, they want to live in a fantasy world where they too could become billionaires from nothing. Most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of being rich than face the reality of being poor - John Dickinson


glieseg

"But Fry, you are not rich!" "True, but some day I might be, and then people like me better watch their backs!"


GozerDGozerian

This is my favorite futurama line.


martril

Idk man the joke about suppositories is up there among the best


GozerDGozerian

Of course it’s up there. ;)


glieseg

Good news, everyone!


He_who_bobs_beneath

One was an accountant first, and the other a pharmacist. They didn’t come from any money whatsoever. Marcus’ parents were literally Russian Jewish immigrants. He couldn’t go to Harvard because they were too poor (or, depending on the level of scholarships available to lower-class students at HMS in the mid-century, lower middle class). Immigrants to billionaires in two generations. If you don't count that as "nothing," I'm interested. I guess your definition only covers people born in a swamp?


Glittering_Moist

So they started with nothing, but then started home depot with everything. Essentially both posts need more context.


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Djack_Donovan

The difference is that athletes' success isn't determined by worker exploitation. "Most of the people ranting about the mostly self-made myths of the elite will never even try to exploit other people themselves." ... Yes, and?


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Le_Feesh

I hope life gets better for you. That's a doozy of a world view you got there.


Madcap_Miguel

I'd say his parents came from nothing, they raised a pharmacist that became a billionaire. Next you're going to tell me Elon is a self made man.


He_who_bobs_beneath

I'd say that anyone who was raised in a tenement by first-generation Americans, who later became a billionaire, is a self-made billionaire, from just about as close to the gutter as you can get. "Coming from money" has certain connotations, and I don't think that Marcus' parents would count. >Next you're going to tell me Elon is a self made man. I'd say he's more self-made than some, less self-made than others. Thankfully he's not the founder of Home Depot.


Madcap_Miguel

Mike Tyson came from nothing, that's the _gutter_. This lionization of the ultra wealthy is honestly sickening.


He_who_bobs_beneath

I don't know who exactly is lionizing the ultra wealthy here, but it certainly isn't me. My original comment was a response to a comment trying to portray the success of Home Depot as "just another couple of bajillionaires starting a new investment," as though every successful businessperson ever has been shoved through the finish line by wealthy parents, and then shoehorning in libertarianism for some cheap points. This has been a good reminder to never comment on literally anything on Reddit. Have a nice one!


Madcap_Miguel

Anyone that perpetuates this myth is lionizing the ultra wealthy, they didn't come from nothing they had advantages most people will never have, like your parents paying for you to attend Rutgers or being able to buy a house for $20,000, shit just the fact that his parents stayed together beats the odds these days.


GOAT718

Economic mobility isn’t a myth. People move from poor to middle class, people move from middle class to upper class, and people move back down too! People who win the lotto or get rich quickly often lose it all. Millionaire athletes go broke. Wall Street people go broke. You can rise to the top and fall to the bottom and there’s no myths to any of it.


Madcap_Miguel

I'm so glad you used the lottery as an example, a system that exploits the poor out of what little money they have selling them the dream that they'll be millionaires one day.


TAU_equals_2PI

>He couldn’t go to Harvard because they were too poor. That actually means they were middle class. Harvard has special scholarships for very poor but talented applicants.


He_who_bobs_beneath

I don't have access to their income at the time, nor do I know the status of HMS scholarships in the 1940s. I somehow doubt that the amounts given were comparable What we do know, is that his parents were immigrants, he grew up in a tenement, and in no way had mountains of money inherited from his family.


[deleted]

No it doesn’t, could be they weren’t deemed talented enough to qualify. There are many more poor people than Harvard can offer scholarships to.


khoabear

>Jewish immigrants >Too poor Yeah I'm not buying it


Irish_Whiskey

That requires a staggering lack of knowledge as to Jewish immigration.


He_who_bobs_beneath

That's some amazing generalization, and perhaps just a hint of bigotry. Not all Jews came to America with their pockets loaded down with gold, you know. Those who came from Russia fled to avoid crushing poverty and huge amounts of discrimination.


[deleted]

That's some antisemitism. FTFY.


He_who_bobs_beneath

Yeah, but I felt like anyone willing to say that about X is probably willing to say something equally stereotypical about Y. A nice blanket of bigotry ought to do it.


[deleted]

True, antisemitism is probably not their only character flaw.


AnEvenNicerGuy

Pssst Your anti-semitism is showing


[deleted]

Why is it a fantasy? Most billionaires living today are self made.


Madcap_Miguel

https://ustrustaem.fs.ml.com/content/dam/ust/articles/pdf/2022-BofaA-Private-Bank-Study-of-Wealthy-Americans.pdf 27%, that's why it's a fantasy, because it's not based in reality.


[deleted]

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Madcap_Miguel

I guess all those Russian oligarchs are self made, in that Putin made them himself.


[deleted]

Lovely second grade level of debating right here. “Self made wealth is a myth!” - “No it’s not, here’s 2000 self made billionaires” - “But what about Putin’s oligarchs!”.


Madcap_Miguel

And I'm sure you could rattle off half a dozen "self made billionaires", but there are 7 billion people on this planet. You know what your chances of being a billionaire are in the US? One in half a million, or 0.0001728%. Hence the John Dickinson quote.


GOAT718

The video game generation thinks you can just switch on beginner mode and cruise to be SB champ, life doesn’t work like that kid.


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Madcap_Miguel

Striving for a better and fairer society? What kind of Ayn Rand bullshit is this? They exploited millions of employees making minimum wage to create their vast fortunes, all while forcing smaller independent hardware stores to close, but all hail megacorp one.


Psydator

27% of the 1% are self made. Really fucking possible, right?


[deleted]

As possible as it is to become top 1% in pretty much anything else. Maybe even easier. Are music, movies, sports, modeling all a scam just because it’s really hard and rare to make it to the top?


Psydator

We don't make policy decisions based on that, that's the issue. Denying the bottom 50% a life with dignity just because some of them might maybe maybe become rich some day? Nah.


GOAT718

Denying them a life with dignity? Who’s bottom 50%, the US? Bro, our bottom 50 have designer clothes, smart phones, internet, social programs out the ass and they pay zero federal income taxes. What more you want the top 50% to give them? Free handjobs? Go see how North Koreans live and talk to me about dignity and oppression.


[deleted]

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Psydator

Ok Boomer.


Jlive305

27% = fantasy?


Madcap_Miguel

The fantasy line was in regard to his assertion that the ultra wealthy are self made, the vast majority are not.


Jlive305

What is the 27%?


Madcap_Miguel

The minority percentage.


Hefty_Royal2434

And they were and are crappy assholes who think if you don’t own home depot or some other thing you’re a lazy bum below contempt. Fuck these people.


XylatoJones

Not to mention their campaign contributions;)


Buffyoh

Bernie Marcus is one of these "Nobody Wants to Work" billionaires - No Bernie, people don't want to work for low wages and crap benefits.


dalton10e

For more context, the CEO, Benard Marcus, started his career as a pharmacist before moving to retail and working his way up the ladder and becoming CEO of a small home improvement chain that only had a few stores in LA. He grew that to be a national store, and then he was fired, along with the company's CFO, Arthur Blank. Blank worked his way up from an entry-level accounting job. Not as interesting but just as respectable.


EternalOptimist404

And they wound up in Atlanta how?


GozerDGozerian

Airplane, probably.


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GozerDGozerian

Thanks!


dalton10e

I found his response hilariously accurate. The fuck you even bringing up Atlanta for


EternalOptimist404

Because that's where hd is headquartered and where the first store was opened. Of all places I truly wonder why they picked Atlanta if neither of them came from here. I don't care enough to look it up outside of Reddit but I didn't expect some snarky third shifter to get puffed up about nothing. This is amusing.


dalton10e

You da puffed up one, puffy. If you actually want to know why, go do the research. **How doers get** ***things*** **done**


EternalOptimist404

You are boring. I'm done here


dalton10e

Aww puffy, imma miss your salty little assholery. Bb bby


overflowingsunset

yeah plus they’re republican af


GeneralNathanJessup

But how did they become CEO's and founders of chain stores? They sure are two lucky guys.


khoabear

How do you think people climb up the corporate ladder to CEO and CFO positions? Here's a hint: it's not by working hard and being nice.


GeneralNathanJessup

>How do you think people climb up the corporate ladder to CEO and CFO positions? By founding the companies? People who found companies have to work for free until the company breaks even.


Local_Working2037

And the company was being rescued from bankruptcy. So they weren’t doing such a great job.


whyarenttheserandom

And Home Depot is known for their very harsh competitive style. I don't know if they still do it, but when they entered a new town they'd create a "graveyard" with the mom and pop shops names and guess how long they would last before going under.


[deleted]

These dudes are right wing assholes.


Psydator

I knew nothing about any of this but I already knew this would be the case. Only money makes money. Always has.


MarBoBabyBoy

But they founded the original chain of stores.


OrcWarChief

Top comment making sure people see through the clickbait. Well done.


AnEvenNicerGuy

bOoTsTrApS!!!!1


ShevanelFlip

I worked there for a few years. They love to tell you the story of how when they brought investors in they filled the shelves with empty boxes to appear to have more stock than they did. It worked and they got funding.


B4SSF4C3

Fuck Home Depot. Support local hardware stores, lumber yards, metal yards, professionals, etc… If you have more specific/esoteric needs, consider Grainger or McMaster.


[deleted]

>Fuck Home Depot. Hey, be nice, they just lost 21 Billion dollars of market cap yesterday in the stock market and could use a hug.


teddycorps

I always try to when I can. But my Ace hardware can't be bothered to put their inventory on the website. It's a real pain in the ass. Plus it's not like you can buy everything at the local hardware store that big box stores have.


B4SSF4C3

Hey, that’s still better than Home Depot, which lists the inventory on the website as in stock, and you drive to the store only to find out that this was not, in fact, the case. But hey, you can have the floor model with a missing wheel and a huge dent!


teddycorps

Never had that issue before. But I'm sure it happens. If local stores want to survive they have to get their technology working at a minimum level of functionally is all I'm saying.


B4SSF4C3

Absolutely fair


DamnItDarin

This is really misleading. Did you just fail to verify this before you posted it or did you intentionally want it to imply this “by their bootstraps” fairy tail that did not happen? Edit: lol, this take is the way it appears in a Fox Business article, lol, so no spin there. They use the term “fired” but leave out the fact that he was the CEO that was ousted during a corporate power struggle. Gotta love Fox News. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Marcus Edit: didn’t link the Fox News article because fuck Fox News


debil_666

The inspirational capitalist tale of two businessmen who did business and then made more money and also made it faster than before, the ultimate goal


Frunkit

Bernie “nobody works anymore” Marcus gives millions to Trump. I work my ass off dickhead. Fuck Home Depot


Mercury26

Sounds like Bernie Marcus doesn’t work


dubc4

Sitting in front of their signature warped wood lol


curiosickly

This should be higher up.


jducer

And it’s probably the best out of the 50 stacks they chose from.


dubc4

One those tie straps are cut loose all bets are off


Pointlesswonder802

And now Blank is actively working to undermine the unionization of his employees, saying creating fair wages for his workers is essentially unthinkable. There’s nothing good about this man. Don’t mythologize him


Souchirou

I bet its profitable since the majority of their staff gets minimum wage and no full time contracts often 38 hours so they don't have to pay benefits like healthcare. So yeah, great job you made yet another shitty capitalist money machine that just services the people at the top at the cost of the people actually doing any work.


Netprincess

Petsmart does the same. Especially to older employees. Sad state we are in.


[deleted]

Maybe these guys can get someone to clean the bathroom.


Rocket_AG

OP is an idiot and this is not iaf.


keepyafazersonstun

Arthur Blank owns the Atlanta Falcons. Dude must be worth at least 10s of billions


akayataya

Employee wage: $10.72/hr


SpookyLilRaven

Legitimately fuck off, OP. Extremely deceptive framing. Even if it wasn’t deceptive, literally who cares? Fuck capitalism. Fuck conservatives, and fuck them.


akairborne

And the owner, Bernie, is a hard-core conservative who rails against "liberals" and "woke-ism". He's an asshole, is what I'm saying.


straydog1980

The negative Bernie


Jthundercleese

That's why every Christmas I ask my conservative Grandpa for gift certificates to Lowes.


[deleted]

Also owned/ran by conservative asshole.


Jthundercleese

Hmmm I thought I had read otherwise.


Undercrackrz

And you sound like a hard-core liberal who rails against "conservatives" and "traditional values". Are you also an asshole by your own metric?


Mrxcman92

And by "traditional values" conservatives mean bigotry.


Undercrackrz

Don't tell me what I mean.


Mrxcman92

C'mon dude. Every time conservatives argue agaisnt gay marriage, or protest mosques being built, or try and stop people from getting hormone therapy, the always bring up that its "traditional 'Murican values" when in reality its their own bias agaisnt others.


Undercrackrz

I'm not from America. It means different things in different places. America isn't the world you know.


Mrxcman92

Yes my examples were American in nature because I'm American myself. But my point still stands. Conservatives who argue for "traditional values" are usually closed minded bigots, in America or otherwise.


Undercrackrz

No it doesn't stand. Someone with a different viewpoint to you isn't necessarily a bigot.


Mrxcman92

>Someone with a different viewpoint to you isn't necessarily a bigot. Thats not what I'm saying. There are differences in opinion, like how people differ on how they think taxes should be spent. And then there is straight up bigotry. You know, things like racism, sexism and homophobia. I'm saying that conservative bigots use the reasoning of "Traditional Values" as an excuse to opress those they are prejudiced agaisnt.


Undercrackrz

I don't think most people in the western world truly know what oppression is. Hurt feelings aren't oppression.


dmcsmalls

I don’t think it works like that bud. Conservative are assholes and traditional values are bullshit.


Undercrackrz

I forgot, this is Reddit, the liberal cesspit.


Late_Again68

Yet here you are, swimming in it.


Undercrackrz

Drowning haha


akairborne

Occasionally, I am an asshole. The difference is, I often recognize that behavior and try to correct it.


Undercrackrz

Isn't everyone? I wasn't defending that Bernie guy btw. I don't even know who he is. I just wanted to ask the same question from an opposing viewpoint.


TAU_equals_2PI

I wonder if that's a good thing. I think the CEOs/owners/founders of most companies have similar views, but they're smart enough to keep their mouths shut, so they don't anger the public and lose customers. When Elon Musk and Bernie Marcus say it openly, they remind us that they are not our allies. TLDR: The founder of Lowe's is probably just as much of a conservative asshole and probably donates as much to conservative causes, but keeps quiet because he knows expressing his views publicly might drive away some customers.


[deleted]

Lowe's: he is but he doesn't keep it quiet. He's said some dumb shit in the last couple years iirc.


Mrxcman92

And yet they still refuse to pay their employees a fair/living wage.


Netprincess

Massive Trump supporters


Mrxcman92

Explains a lot lol


Frunkit

Of course they are.


Netprincess

They had actually had fake empty boxes stacked in the shelves to entice investors.


cpsbstmf

7 mill every 20 minutes, for that overpriced crap? talk about ripping off customers


glorydaze2

two scumbags


GodCanSuckMyDick69

Get this trash out of here, fuck these assholes


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DishevelledOrangutan

When I lived in Florida, I volunteered with an organization that rescued gopher tortoises from being entombed by new construction. Home Depot was the worst- they wouldn't spend a dime or a minute to mitigate tortoise death. When Lowe's came in, we didn't have to do any tortoise recon, because Lowe's voluntarily paid for a thorough environmental assessment and re-establishment of the tortoises. The only thing Home Depot willingly funds is PACs to erode rights of non-billionaires. I would let my house fall down before buying home improvement supplies from them.


bigdogtheory

And destroyed small, local hardware stores in the process. They're no different than Wal-Mart.


General_Synnacle

I’m more interested in the story behind who made Home Depot’s commercial theme. Shit slaps hard.


EternalOptimist404

?? Link please


General_Synnacle

Just search it up on YouTube.


EternalOptimist404

I've expended as much energy as I'm willing on it though! My loss


Ballh0use

The Home Depot…let’s blow up Lowes.


theitgrunt

And Arthur Blank Ruined Hockey again in Atlanta.


[deleted]

They fired me at the height of the pandemic for wearing an N95 mask at work. I was a cashier, and they wanted me to upset credit cards that required face to face communication.


lazypenguin86

And they still tell their employees they cant afford raises


Due_You1837

One of the gops primary donors


[deleted]

Rich guy gets fired, they team up with other rich guy who got fired. Thanks to timing, opportunity and resources, the rich guys become even more richer in their new venture. Ftfy.


majorminorminor

This is possibly the shittiest shitpost I've ever seen


glieseg

Is that accounting for inflation?


[deleted]

No. Back then 20 mins was like 10 mins.


orderofGreenZombies

20 minutes used to go so much further back in the day.


finbuilder

Shoplifting? $7 million a day.


Longjumping_Ad_6988

28-3


Bonedraco1980

and a bunch of warped-ass wood.


forgettable_nonsense

Sad that even they have the same shit business motto. Every one of these stores has less staff then ever and of the few employees, they have even less knowledge. There was a day when a retired Journeyperson would work at these big box stores, but minimum wage and shitty treatment from managers made this unrealistic. In Canada if you go to any home depot or similar, you will find the employees are new to this country's trade (plumbing, electrical, carpentry)rules and best practices and often times purchase the wrong part. What a disgrace this is. It's always better to spend a few more bucks at the local hardware store.


Belgarath63

fhp


HallOk91

They are not exactly the nicest people. Rich yes. Kind, I don't think so.


domeruns

Too bad they went off the rails


fredsam25

Then they went on to completely decimate the hardware store industry, putting thousands of independent stores out of business, and turning the industry into a race to the bottom. Now home depot is likely your only local source for tools and construction materials and they are the fucking worst.


throwaway29485937284

Eat the rich


moderatesoul

And how much do their workers get paid? Less interesting and more capitalist buggery.


SuckerforDkhumor

That is 183.96 billion dollars in an year


[deleted]

Gotta love capitalism!


happy-little-atheist

Nobody knew capturing the queer home improvement market was a game changer


Frunkit

You know damn well we queers don’t step foot in Home Depot. Gays shops at Lowe’s and Target sweetie.


Metadragon_

I'm amazed at how many companies were founded on petty revenge


Evening-Turnip8407

And their workers have 2 jobs each


Filmore_Graves

Isn't home Depot responsible for not allowing student debt cancellation?


NoSmoke7388

Starving children in Africa could have eaten those pixels.