Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> May 10, 1999
A native of Elkins Park, a suburb of Philadelphia, PA, ROBERT I. TOLL
earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Cornell University in 1963, and
was awarded his LL.B. degree cum laude from the University of
Pennsylvania Law School in 1966. He then joined the law firm of Wolf,
Schorr and Solis-Cohen, Philadelphia. In 1967, Mr. Toll founded Toll
Brothers, Inc. which today is the leading builder of luxury homes in the
nation. In 1996, he was honored as America's Best Builder by the
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Builder Magazine. This
is the third top honor bestowed upon Toll Brothers, making the Company
the only national builder to win all three of the home building
industry's highest accolades. In October 1995, Toll Brothers won the
National Housing Quality Award presented by the NAHB and Professional
Builder Magazine and Professional Builder Magazine previously named them
Builder of the Year. In June 1996, he was chosen by a group of his peers
to receive Ernst & Young's Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In
March 1996, Robert was the Bronze Award winner in Financial World, CEO
of The Year Competition. In October 1996 he was also the recipient of
the Residential Building Industry's CEO Silver Award from The Wall
Street Transcript. He now serves on the Board of Overseers of the
University of Pennsylvania Law School and of the Cornell Real Estate
School, as well as serving on the Board of Directors of the Southeastern
Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross, Abington Hospital, and
Beth Sholom Synagogue. He is also a member of the Mayor's Housing
Partnership Council in Philadelphia. A sailing enthusiast, Mr. Toll is
an offshore racer. He is also an avid skier, tennis player and golfer.
Married to the former Jane Snyder, Robert is the father of Laurie, 28;
Debbie, 26; Rachel, 21; Jacob, 17; and the stepfather of Joshua, 30. In
1991, Mr. and Mrs. Toll guaranteed two third grade classes comprising
58 Philadelphia inner-city elementary school children that they would
pay for any and all college, vo-tech or continuing education. To help
them prepare for college, Mrs. Toll works with the children one day a
week. They also provide full time counselors, teachers' aides and summer
programs for the children. The two of them are also involved in a
remarkable young organization called Seeds of Peace which is sowing the
seeds for a brighter, more secure future in the Middle East. Seeds works
with the governments of Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority,
Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Qatar (the list is growing) to select promising
Jewish, Muslim and Christian students to attend a summer coexistence
camp in the United States as a means to a peaceful future in the Middle
East. Profile
customers?
Mr. Toll: I believe we're the nation's leading builder of luxury homes.
The company was started in 1967.
