Youth, litigation, and getting on with life

Lessons from Bernie Marcus of Home Depot, who at age 49 was fired from a job in violation of what he considered his rights under a contract:

[Price Club founder Sol] Price told Bernie: “Why are you spending your young life suing somebody? Why don’t you just forget about it and go on and live your life? Otherwise, you’re going to end up with a room like this [in your home filled with legal papers].”

The next morning when Bernie woke up, he said he “really woke up. I called the attorneys and said, ‘You’re off the case. End the litigation. I’m going on with my life.’”

Just where did Bernie go? One year later in 1979, he and Arthur Blank launched The Home Depot, which became the fastest growing retailer in U.S. history.

[Harvey Mackay, Orlando Business Journal]

Comments are closed.