Ken Langone

Co-founder of The Home Depot

Ken Langone is the co-founder of The Home Depot, a retailing powerhouse and one of the world’s largest home improvement stores. He was born in Roslyn, New York on August 5, 1935, to working-class Catholic parents and grew up with four siblings in a loving and tight-knit family. Growing up in an environment of limited resources, Langone was determined to make a better life for himself. He worked hard and attended Bucknell University, where he earned his degree in economics. After college, he went into the investment banking field and eventually developed his own company, Invemed Associates. In 1978, Langone and his partner Bernie Marcus founded The Home Depot. The business quickly took off after launching its first stores in Atlanta, Georgia. The Home Depot has since expanded nationwide and is now a multi-billion dollar retailing business. The business has changed the way that people do home improvement and has played a major role in making DIY home projects possible and affordable. To this day, Langone remains active in the business and is a major proponent of philanthropy. He also co-founded The Robin Hood Foundation, a non-profit organization which is devoted to improving health care, medical research, poverty, and educational opportunities within New York City. Langone remains an inspirational figure for many Americans by exemplifying the potential in all of us and the power of hard work. He has become a symbol for the American dream of success and achievement—demonstrating that goals can be achieved despite any obstacles or hardships. He has developed a strong spirit of giving and giving back, and has undoubtedly made an invaluable impact on American business and philanthropy.