Courtesy Toll Brothers
Toll Brothers announced the passing of Robert I. Toll, the company’s co-founder, former chairman, and CEO. He passed peacefully surrounded by his family following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 81.
“We are heartbroken by the passing of our founder, mentor, and dear friend,” says Douglas C. Yearley Jr., chairman and CEO of Toll Brothers. “Bob was a brilliant strategist and an incredible teacher and adviser. His lessons have been indelibly etched over the past half century in the minds of the entire Toll Brothers team and many of the industry’s current and future leaders.”
Toll was born in 1940 and raised in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. After graduating from Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Toll practiced law for one year before founding Toll Brothers with his younger brother Bruce in 1967.
“One of the happiest days of my life was when Bob quit the practice of law and we joined together to start Toll Brothers, building what has become such a great company,” says Bruce. “While deeply saddened by his passing, I am forever grateful for our lives together as brothers and business partners.”
The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1986, ultimately becoming a Fortune 500 company with $9 billion in annual home building revenues and a presence that now spans over 60 markets in 24 states.
Toll served as chairman and CEO of Toll Brothers from its founding until 2010 and remained on the board of directors thereafter until recently stepping back to chairman emeritus. Under his leadership, Toll Brothers has solidified its reputation as “America’s Luxury Home Builder.” Today over 150,000 families across the U.S. live in a Toll Brothers home.
“He was a dynamic leader with a great sense of humor, searingly charismatic, and was just an awesome leader for the industry,” says Jeff Meyers, CEO of Zonda.
During his career, Toll and the company he co-founded received numerous industry honors and was recognized by several organizations and magazines, including BUILDER. The company was recognized as our Builder of the Year in 2014, and, in 2017, Bob and Bruce Toll were inducted into BUILDER’s Hall of Fame. Today, the company sits at No. 11 on the Builder 100.
He was also named top CEO in the home building industry three times by Institutional Investor magazine, twice named to Barron’s list of the World’s 30 Most Respected CEOs, and the company has been listed as the No. 1 World’s Most Admired Home Builder in Fortune magazine’s survey of the World’s Most Admired Companies seven times.
Toll and his wife, Jane, also made philanthropy and social justice an integral part of their lives. In addition to their avid support of nonprofit organizations including the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society, they were hands-on leaders and supporters of numerous causes, including Seeds of Peace, an organization that brings together youth and educators from areas of conflict in the world to its camp in Maine, and the Say Yes to Education Foundation.
“Bob had such a profound impact on so many of us in so many unique ways,” adds Yearley. “He really became like a father figure to me … and taught us by example. Bob would pull weeds at an entrance feature, he would fluff pillows in the model home, and fix directional signs. He did it not just because he passionately cared, but to teach and to show that those little things matter.”
Toll is survived by his wife, their five children, and 12 grandchildren. The family plans to hold a private service to honor his life. In addition, Toll Brothers and his family will host a celebration of Toll’s life on a future date at the company’s headquarters in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
