Acquired · Monday, September 14, 2026
Investment banker Ken Langone's aggressive stock purchases in Handy Dan, a subsidiary of the struggling Daylin corporation, inadvertently led to the ousting of Handy Dan's CEO Bernie Marcus and CFO Arthur Blank in 1978. This event, however, directly precipitated the founding of The Home Depot.
“So Ken says, Gary, let's get, let's get Handy Dan on the phone like right now. I got to talk to these guys.”
“So Ken says, all right, all right. I told you. He flies back to New York. He does exactly what he said he was going to do. He buys every single publicly traded share of Handy Dan.”
“So Ken says, Bernie, what are you talking about? Don't you understand? Like, I am the only thing that is protecting you from Sigoloff. If I sell, he's going to turn around and fire your ass.”
“So Ken says, Bernie, relax. You just got kicked in the ass with a golden horseshoe. That's a verbatim quote, by the way, because now we're going to go start that company that you told me about.”