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Founder Profile

Ron Brill

Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya

Who is Ron Brill?

Ron Brill is a founder of The Home Depot, Inc., which was founded in 1978 with Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank and Pat Farrah.

Company founded
The Home Depot, Inc.
Founded
1978
Co-founders
Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank and Pat Farrah

Background

Ron Brill was one of the four original co-founders of The Home Depot and served as the company's first chief financial officer. His background in accounting and financial management provided the numerical rigor the founding team needed to translate Marcus and Blank's retail vision into a financially viable enterprise. Brill managed the company's accounting and financial control functions through the critical early growth years, establishing the reporting systems and financial discipline that allowed Home Depot to scale rapidly without losing visibility into its operational performance. He later served on Home Depot's board of directors.

Founding Story

Ron Brill served as one of the four original co-founders of The Home Depot and its first chief financial officer, providing the financial management infrastructure that allowed the company to survive its precarious early years and scale into one of America's most successful retailers. Brill's accounting background and financial discipline were essential during a founding period when the company frequently operated near the edge of its available capital, requiring careful cash management and supplier relationship management to maintain operations while investing in growth. His contribution to building Home Depot's early financial control systems, inventory tracking, accounts payable management, and financial reporting, established the operational backbone on which the company's notable growth trajectory was built. Brill later transitioned to a board role, continuing to contribute institutional knowledge and financial oversight as the company matured from a startup into a publicly traded company.

Education: Fairleigh Dickinson University. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Sources

Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.