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Arthur Blank

United States 83 years old Self-Made

Overview

Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus cofounded Home Depot in 1978 after being fired from their jobs at a regional hardware store.

Blank retired as Home Depot's co-chairman in 2001 and bought the NFL's Atlanta Falcons for $545 million in 2002 (his stake's now worth $2.5 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 hosted 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.

In 2019, Blank paid more than $180 million for his new 240- foot yacht, DreAMBoat (AMB are his initials).