Robert I. Toll

Robert Irwin Toll (December 30, 1940)^[1] co-founded the American luxury homebuilder company Toll Brothers.

Biography

Born to a Jewish family, the son of Sylvia (née Steinberg)^[2] and Albert Toll, he grew up in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.^[1] His father, who emigrated from Ukraine,^[3] was a millionaire investor who lost everything in the Stock market crash of 1929.^[4] His first job was at Camp Powhatan in Otisfield, Maine where he was a counselor; it is now known as Seeds of Peace and is dedicated to bringing together Arab, Israeli, Indian, and Pakistani teenagers to promote peaceful conflict resolution.^[1] In 1963, he graduated with a B.A. from Cornell University; and in 1966, he earned a LLB degree, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.^[5] In 1967, Toll and his brother Bruce E. Toll founded Toll Brothers with a focus on building luxury homes ($500,000+)^[4] starting with a plot of land in Chester County, Pennsylvania given to them by their father.^[6] They grew the business using a conservative financial model always including a 10 percent cushion into all their projects and never assuming price appreciation during construction.^[6] Bruce was responsible for the book-keeping and Robert the legal side of the business.^[4] In the late 1980s, they expanded out of the Northeast to Washington, D.C. and in the mid-1990s, to California.^[4] The Tolls are credited with mass-producing luxury housing by taking a few standard home styles and increasing the scale several fold.^[6] Toll Brothers later expanded into building “active-adult” communities for the elderly affluent and urban high-rises for the newly affluent (Toll Brothers City Living).^[6]

In 2010, Toll stepped down as CEO of Toll Brothers although he still remains active in its management.^[7] In November 2013, Toll Brothers purchased Shapell Homes (founded by Nathan Shapell) for $1.6 billion.^[8]

Philanthropy and accolades

In 1990, the Tolls sponsored 58 third graders in a program called Say Yes to Education guarantying a college education to each of them.^[5] He served on the Board of Directors of the Cornell Real Estate Council, the Metropolitan Opera, Seeds of Peace, and Beth Shalom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.^[5] He has been a long-time fundraiser for the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society.^[9]

Toll was a member of the Democratic National Finance Committee during the Obama campaign.^[5][10] Toll also served on the Board of Overseers at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania where he established the Albert & Sylvia Toll Scholarship Foundation, named after his parents.^[5] In 2005, Toll was named CEO of the Year by Professional Builder Magazine. In 2007, 2008, and 2009, he was named the "Best CEO in the Homebuilders & Building Products industry" by Institutional Investor magazine.

Personal life

Toll has been married twice.^[1] In 1975, he married his second wife Jane.^[11] They live in Miami Beach, Florida.^[5] She has one son from her first marriage; Toll has two daughters from his first marriage; and they have a son and daughter together.^[4]

References