Arthur Blank

“You sit down in a boardroom with him, and his first question was going to be the elephant in the room.”

“For two million dollars, Perot would own 70% of Home Depot. Bernie and Arthur would split 25%, and Ken would get five percent.”

“JCPenney was looking to sublease four massive department stores that were failing. The negotiations went great until Penny dropped a bomb. They had to take all four locations or none, and this was insane.”

“Bernie and Arthur had grown it from four stores to nearly 80, each doing three million dollars a year, the highest volumes in the industry.”

“He stormed into his CEO's office, slammed the door, and threw his resignation letter on the desk. You don't need a banker, he told the CEO. You need a computer. Hire some young kid to come in here and do my job. I buy people. Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank are…”

“In 1997, Bernie Marcus stepped down as the CEO after 19 years at the helm. Arthur Blank took over, with Bernie staying on as chairman. The company they'd built now had over 500 stores and twenty-four billion in annual sales.”

“In the spring of 1978, Bernie and Arthur show up for a corporate planning meeting at Dalen headquarters, and Sigilov lawyers and stenographers met them. Bernie thought it was a strange mix for a planning meeting, and they were fired on the spot.”