Arthur M. Blank is an American businessman and a co-founder of Home Depot. Today he is known for his philanthropy and his ownership of the Atlanta Falcons team in the National Football League and the Georgia Force team in the Arena Football League. He has recently come out in support of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Early Life ~ Arthur Blank was born on September 27, 1942 and grew up in Flushing, New York with his father, Max, his mother, Molly, and his older brother, Michael. Blank graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City and went on to attend Babson College, where he graduated in 3 years in 1953 with a B.S. degree in Business Administration.

Working Life ~ After graduating from college, Blank was hired by Handy Dan Hardware, and worked his way up through the company to become a regional manager. However, he was fired in 1978 for a disagreement with executives. In 1978, Blank co-founded Home Depot with Bernie Marcus, another former Handy Dan manager. Together, with the help of New York investment banker Ken Langone who assembled a group of investors, the two launched the highly successful home-improvement retailer in 1979. The store revolutionized the home improvement business with its warehouse concept and the two became billionaires as a result. Blank spent 19 years as the company's chief financial officer before succeeding Marcus as CEO. He retired from the company in 2001 as co-chairman.

Sports Ownership ~ In February 2002, Blank purchased the Atlanta Falcons franchise in the National Football League from longtime owner Taylor Smith. In September 2004, he bought the Arena Football League franchise, the Georgia Force; he moved the team back to the city of Atlanta after it had spent several years in suburban Gwinnett County. Blank has expressed serious interest in purchasing other Atlanta franchises. In early 2006, he temporarily withdrew from contention as a potential buyer of the Major League Baseball team Atlanta Braves. Some months later, Blank re-entered serious talks with Time Warner and a report indicated that a sale was imminent. However, in February 2007, the Braves completed the sale of the team to Liberty Media. See Wikipedia, Arthur Blank.

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