Acquired

- Home Depot began after Daylin's turnaround CEO fired the executives running its strongest division. In 1978, Sandy Sigoloff dismissed Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank three months after buying out Ken Langone's nearly 19% minority stake; Langone had warned Marcus that selling would remove his protection.

- Marcus adapted Saul Price's warehouse-club model into a one-stop hardware store with expert advice. The founders planned 25,000 products, gross margins near 30% instead of 45%, skilled tradespeople to teach shoppers, and supplier payment terms that effectively financed roughly half their inventory.

- Ross Perot nearly acquired 70% of Home Depot for $2 million, but a dispute over Marcus's old Cadillac killed the deal. Marcus rejected Perot's attempt to dictate his car and management style; Langone instead raised $2 million from 40 investors who took only 50%.

- Home Depot turned ordinary retail employees and early investors into substantial equity owners. At its 1981 IPO, the four-store company was valued at just $32 million; hourly employees could buy discounted, downside-protected shares, and a $1,000 IPO investment with reinvested dividends grew to approximately $17 million by 2026.

- Home Depot's scale was powered partly by American houses getting older and requiring more work. The median U.S. home's age rose from about 23 years in 1980 to 42 in 2026; Home Depot came to control roughly 51% of the home-improvement-store market, with Lowe's holding another 29%.

- CEO Bob Nardelli grew Home Depot's reported revenue and profits while damaging its defining customer-service culture. From 2000 to 2006, average staffing fell from 200 to 170 employees per store, experienced tradespeople were replaced by part-timers, and Nardelli received roughly $200 million while comparable-store sales and the stock stagnated.

- Frank Blake revived Home Depot by stopping rapid store expansion and concentrating on its existing business. After becoming CEO in 2007, he sold HD Supply for about $8.3 billion, repurchased roughly 30% of outstanding shares during his tenure, and raised average store sales from about $30 million to $65 million annually.

- Home Depot's modern advantage is specialized fulfillment for contractors, not just a nationwide store network. Professional customers now account for more than half of its $165 billion in annual sales, while the $18.25 billion SRS Distribution acquisition expanded large job-site deliveries that are difficult for Amazon's standard parcel network to match.

- Home Depot began after Daylin's turnaround CEO fired the executives running its strongest division. In 1978, Sandy Sigoloff dismissed Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank three months after buying out Ken Langone's nearly 19% minority stake; Langone had warned Marcus that selling would remove his protection.

- Marcus adapted Saul Price's warehouse-club model into a one-stop hardware store with expert advice. The founders planned 25,000 products, gross margins near 30% instead of 45%, skilled tradespeople to teach shoppers, and supplier payment terms that effectively financed roughly half their inventory.

- Ross Perot nearly acquired 70% of Home Depot for $2 million, but a dispute over Marcus's old Cadillac killed the deal. Marcus rejected Perot's attempt to dictate his car and management style; Langone instead raised $2 million from 40 investors who took only 50%.

- Home Depot turned ordinary retail employees and early investors into substantial equity owners. At its 1981 IPO, the four-store company was valued at just $32 million; hourly employees could buy discounted, downside-protected shares, and a $1,000 IPO investment with reinvested dividends grew to approximately $17 million by 2026.

- Home Depot's scale was powered partly by American houses getting older and requiring more work. The median U.S. home's age rose from about 23 years in 1980 to 42 in 2026; Home Depot came to control roughly 51% of the home-improvement-store market, with Lowe's holding another 29%.

- CEO Bob Nardelli grew Home Depot's reported revenue and profits while damaging its defining customer-service culture. From 2000 to 2006, average staffing fell from 200 to 170 employees per store, experienced tradespeople were replaced by part-timers, and Nardelli received roughly $200 million while comparable-store sales and the stock stagnated.

- Frank Blake revived Home Depot by stopping rapid store expansion and concentrating on its existing business. After becoming CEO in 2007, he sold HD Supply for about $8.3 billion, repurchased roughly 30% of outstanding shares during his tenure, and raised average store sales from about $30 million to $65 million annually.

- Home Depot's modern advantage is specialized fulfillment for contractors, not just a nationwide store network. Professional customers now account for more than half of its $165 billion in annual sales, while the $18.25 billion SRS Distribution acquisition expanded large job-site deliveries that are difficult for Amazon's standard parcel network to match.