Arthur Blank
Atlanta, Georgia
Bachelor of Arts/Science, Babson College
United States
Atlanta Falcons
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Home Depot, Self Made
$5,100,000,000
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#394 Billionaires 2019
#136 Forbes 400 2018
Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus cofounded Home Depot in 1978 after being fired from their jobs at a regional hardware store.Blank stepped down as co-chairman of Home Depot in 2001 and the next year bought the NFL's Atlanta Falcons for $545 million (now worth $2.1 billion).He brought pro soccer to Atlanta with his Major League Soccer team Atlanta United FC, which started playing in March 2017.In August 2017, both of Blanks' teams moved into their new $1.5 billion home, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is slated to host the 2019 Super Bowl.In 2012, he signed the Giving Pledge and committed to give more than half of his wealth away.
While an undergraduate at Babson College in the early 1960s, he started a landscaping and laundry pick-up service to cover his expenses.Blank graduated from college in three years.
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