Arthur M. Blank is Owner & CEO of the Atlanta Falcons.  Since acquiring the franchise in February 2002, he has made significant changes that have created renewed excitement for Falcons fans across the region.

During Blank’s first year as owner, the Falcons generated a 100 percent increase in season ticket sales, the highest single-year increase in season ticket sales in NFL history.  Fans have filled the Georgia Dome at every home game since Blank took ownership of the club, and for the first time in the franchise’s 40-year history, there is a waiting list for season tickets – a list that currently exceeds 60,000 fans.

Blank is also Owner & CEO of the Georgia Force.  He acquired this Arena Football League team in August 2004, and is putting the same passion into building this franchise as he continues to put into the Falcons.  In its first season under Blank’s ownership, the Force team played to record-breaking attendance, setting new records on the field, capturing their first National Conference Championship and appearing in their first ArenaBowl.  New attendance and player records were also set in the 2006 season, and the Force achieved their first-ever back-to-back-season trip to the playoffs. 

Blank is also Chairman, President & CEO of AMB Group, LLC, and Chairman of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.  Both companies are part of The Arthur M. Blank Family Office, with the common purpose of giving back to society through financial contributions and personal involvement.

Blank is widely known in the business community for his success in building the world’s largest home improvement retailer.  He co-founded The Home Depot in 1978 and retired from the company as Co-Chairman in 2001.  At the time of his retirement, The Home Depot was a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and one of Fortune Magazine’s "Global Most Admired Companies."  During Blank’s last year as CEO of the company, The Home Depot ranked first in social responsibility in an annual survey conducted by Harris Interactive, Inc.

Blank believes in the importance of making a difference – professionally and personally.  In addition to the company’s financial success, during his 23 years with The Home Depot the company donated more than $113 million to communities, and Home Depot associates provided hundreds of thousands of hours of personal volunteer time.  Blank is extending his experience and values to the Atlanta Falcons and Georgia Force in building two competitive and financially-successful franchises, as well as through the works of the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation and community involvement activities.

Blank is also dedicated to his own giving back.  Through his generosity, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, along with Blank and his wife’s personal giving, has granted over $220 million to various organizations, most recently in Atlanta; Maricopa County, Arizona; and Beaufort County, South Carolina.  Mr. and Mrs. Blank were named as the 2000 Georgia Philanthropists of the Year by the National Society of Fundraising Executives.

Blank is recognized throughout the country for his personal and professional achievements.  In 2006, he was named Distinguished American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, which every year recognizes an individual who has utilized his or her talents to attain great success in business, private life, or public service.  Also in 2006, Blank was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame, and in 2005 he was named National Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young.

In 2003, for the second time in three years, Blank was named Georgia’s Most Respected CEO by Georgia Trend magazine, and in 2002 he was inducted into Georgia State University’s Business Hall of Fame.  Among other previous honors, Babson College inducted Blank into its Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs in 1995 and conferred on him an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1998.

Blank serves on a number of boards including: Outward Bound USA, where he chairs the Board of Trustees; the Commerce Club, an Atlanta organization of community business leaders; the Board of Trustees of The Carter Center, Inc.; the Board of Trustees of Emory University; the Board of Trustees of The Cooper Institute; and the boards of Cox Enterprises, Inc., and Staples, Inc.

Blank is Chairman of the capital campaign for the new Atlanta Symphony Center.  He recently served as Co-Chair for the capital campaign for the new Centennial Olympic Games Museum at the Atlanta History Center.

In September 2001, Blank joined the faculty of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School as its first Distinguished Executive in Residence.  He also served as the 2003 Chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

A native of Flushing, N.Y., Blank received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration with Distinction from Babson College, where he was active in a wide variety of extracurricular activities.

Blank has six children and two grandchildren.  He and his wife, Stephanie, and their three children live in Atlanta.  A strong believer in work-life balance, Blank still makes time for working out and remains an avid runner.  His favorite T-shirt appropriately reads, "There is no finish line."