Ken Langone: Home Depot Founder
The founder of Home Depot Ken Langone has served as a board member, director or chairman of numerous companies. Ken Langone is the founder, chairman and CEO of Invemed Associates LLC. Through Invemed, a brokerage and investment banking firm, he was able to raise sufficient funds to vault himself into a position to start up Home Depot where he is a director and has been a member of the executive committee since 1978. The oft-considered stubborn businessman has sat as vice-chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Stern School of Business at NYU. Ken Langone's educational commitments have also included a sixteen-year tenure as a member of the Bucknell University Board of Trustees. Also at Bucknell he has been chairman of Nominating and Endowments Committees and a member of the Executive Committee.
Born to a working-class family 20 minutes outside of Manhattan, Kenneth Langone hasn't strayed far from his working-class roots. In college the future billionaire found financial support by digging ditches. Other roles Langone has seen are: Board of Trustees at NYU Med. School, YUM! Brands board member, ChoicePoint board member, General Electric board member, TriCon Global Restaurants board member, Unifi Inc. board member and CSIS board member.
Ken Langone has certainly not been a man to limit himself to specific areas. On the non-profit side of the coin he has served the Cancer Research Fund of Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Foundation, New York Philharmonic, Children's Oncology Society (Ronald McDonald House) and the Robin Hood Foundation.
Performing as a businessman of the highest caliber has given Ken Langone the opportunity to also become a philanthropist of the highest caliber. Ken Langone's time, energy and wealth of expertise has been dedicated to positive deeds for an abundance of charities.