Bruce E. Toll

Last updated
Bruce E. Toll
Born (1943-04-29) April 29, 1943 (age 79)
NationalityAmerican
EducationB.A. University of Miami
Occupationbusinessman
Known forco-founder of Toll Brothers
SpouseRobbi S. Toll
ChildrenMichelle Toll
Elizabeth Toll Feuer
Wendy Toll Topkis
Jennifer Toll Schulman
Parent(s)Albert Toll
Sylvia Steinberg Toll
Family Robert I. Toll (brother)

Bruce E. Toll (born April 29, 1943) is an American businessman who co-founded the homebuilder company Toll Brothers. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Toll was born to a Jewish family and grew up in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. [1] He is the son of Sylvia (née Steinberg) [2] [3] and Albert Toll. His father, who emigrated from Ukraine, [4] was a millionaire investor who lost everything in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. [5] In 1965, Toll graduated with a B.A. from the University of Miami. [6]

Career

In 1967, Toll and his brother Robert I. Toll founded Toll Brothers with a focus on building luxury homes ($500,000+) [5] starting with a plot of land in Caln Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania given to them by their father. [7] They grew the business using a conservative financial model always including a 10 percent expense cushion in all their project cost estimates, never assumed price appreciation during construction, and always used conservative sales estimates. [7] Bruce was responsible for the book-keeping and Robert the legal side of the business. [5] In the late 1980s, they expanded out of the Northeast to Washington, D.C., and in the mid-1990s, to California. [5] The Tolls are credited with mass-producing luxury housing by taking a few standard home styles and increasing the scale several fold. [7] 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). [7] In 1998, Toll sold 5 million shares of Toll Brothers for $186.6 million although still remaining its second largest shareholder and vice-chairman. [4] [8] In November 2013, Toll Brothers purchased Shapell Homes (founded by Nathan Shapell) for $1.6 billion. [9] As of 2013, Toll Brothers has sold over 40,000 homes in twenty-two states. [10]

Using the proceeds from his stock sale, he has diversified his investments. Toll is principal of real estate investor and developer, BET Investments, [10] and has a diversified pool of investments, including National Renal Alliance of Franklin, Tennessee, a for-profit chain of 12 kidney-dialysis centers; Premier Kids Care Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia, which sells human-growth hormones; Puresyn Inc., a Malvern, Pennsylvania, company which develops gene vaccines and gene-therapies; Colonial Management Group L.P., an Orlando, Florida , chain of 50 methadone-treatment centers; UbiquiTel Inc., a Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, company that sells Sprint-branded PCS wireless service in the West and Midwest; Aquilent Inc., a Laurel, Maryland, company which provides IT services to the government; several automobile dealerships in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, including Reedman-Toll Auto World of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, one of the largest dealerships in the US. [8]

Philanthropy and accolades

Toll serves on the board of directors for the Home Builders Association of Bucks and Montgomery Counties, the Ben Franklin Technology Center of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Abington Memorial Hospital, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. [10] Toll typically donates to the Republican party. [4]

Personal life

Toll is married to Robbi S. Toll. [11] Robbi is an interior designer [12] [13] and serves as secretary of the board of the National Museum of American Jewish History. [11] They have four daughters; Michelle, Elizabeth, Wendy, and Jennifer. [4] In 1997, his daughter Elizabeth married investor Leonard M. Tannenbaum; [14] they divorced in 2010. [15]

In 2010, Toll filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against Leonard M. Tannenbaum, his former son-in-law and founder and chief executive officer of Fifth Street Asset Management, alleging that Tannenbaum had promised and failed to pay his daughter Elizabeth half the profits from the management of Fifth Street's latest fund. [16]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Philadelphia Inquirer</i> American daily newspaper founded in 1829

The Philadelphia Inquirer is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland, and the 17th largest in the United States as of 2017.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. The school was established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton. Considered one of the most prestigious business schools in the world, the Wharton School is the world's oldest collegiate business school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert L. Johnson</span> American billionaire businessman

Robert Louis Johnson is an American entrepreneur, media magnate, executive, philanthropist, and investor. He is the co-founder of BET, which was acquired by Viacom in 2001. He also founded RLJ Companies, a holding company that invests in various business sectors. Johnson is the former majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. He became the first African-American billionaire in 2001. Johnson's companies have counted among the most prominent African-American businesses in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackstone Inc.</span> American asset management company

Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate business has actively acquired commercial real estate. Blackstone is also active in credit, infrastructure, hedge funds, insurance, secondaries, and growth equity. As of Q3 2022, the company's total assets under management were approximately US$951 billion, making it the largest alternative investment firm globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gimbels</span> Defunct American department store

Gimbel Brothers was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the company moved its operations to the Gimbel Brothers Department Store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It became a chain when it opened a second, larger store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1894, moving its headquarters there. At the urging of future company president Bernard Gimbel, grandson of the founder, the company expanded to New York City in 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John C. Bogle</span> American investor, money manager (1929–2019)

John Clifton "Jack" Bogle was an American investor, business magnate, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive of The Vanguard Group, and is credited with creating the index fund. An avid investor and money manager himself, he preached investment over speculation, long-term patience over short-term action, and reducing broker fees as much as possible. The ideal investment vehicle for Bogle was a low-cost index fund held over a lifetime with dividends reinvested and purchased with dollar cost averaging.

Steven A. Cohen is an American hedge fund manager and owner of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball since September 14, 2020, owning roughly 97.2% of the team. He is the founder of hedge fund Point72 Asset Management and now-closed S.A.C. Capital Advisors, both based in Stamford, Connecticut.

Toll Brothers is a company which designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges financing for residential and commercial properties in the United States. In 2020, the company was the fifth largest home builder in the United States, based on homebuilding revenue. The company is ranked 411th on the Fortune 500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman Toll</span> United States congressman (1907–1967)

Herman Toll from 1959 to 1967 served Pennsylvania as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He supported the civil rights movement, and sponsored legislation to create several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Urban Affairs and Housing.

Fred S. Fraenkel is an investment professional and vice chair of Cowen Inc. He was on the Barron's year end roundtable for four years and managed large research organizations at several Wall Street firms. He ran his own venture fund for eight years and was until September 2015 the president and chief research officer of a Miami-based advisor of mutual funds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reliance Insurance Company</span>

Reliance Insurance Company, now officially known as Reliance Insurance Company [in Liquidation], was founded in Philadelphia in 1817 and has undergone numerous corporate makeovers in the intervening years. As of October 3, 2001, the company has been in liquidation. As of 2020, Reliance was still in liquidation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saul Steinberg (businessman)</span> American businessman and financier (1939–2012)

Saul Phillip Steinberg was an American businessman and financier. He became a millionaire before his 30th birthday and a billionaire before his 40th birthday. He started a computer leasing company (Leasco), which he used in an audacious and successful takeover of the much larger Reliance Insurance Company in 1968. He was best known for his unsuccessful attempts to take over Chemical Bank in 1969 and Walt Disney Productions in 1984.

Joshua J. Harris is an American businessman and investor. He co-founded Apollo Global Management in 1990, now one of the world's largest asset management firms. Harris is also the principal owner and managing partner of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association and the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League, as well as a shareholder of Crystal Palace F.C. of the English Premier League among other sporting ventures. His net worth was estimated to be US$7.25 in 2023.

Robert Irwin Toll was an American businessman who co-founded the luxury homebuilder company Toll Brothers.

Fifth Street Asset Management Inc. was an SEC-registered American credit-focused asset manager. The firm lent to small and medium-sized businesses. Revenues of these businesses is generally between $25 million and $500 million.

Leonard M. Tannenbaum is the founder and chief executive officer of AFC Gamma Inc., a commercial mortgage REIT which trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker AFCG. Previously, he was the founder and chief executive officer of Fifth Street Asset Management, which was sold to Oaktree Asset Management in 2017. He also founded the pro-business political action committee "Keeping America Competitive".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compass, Inc.</span> American real estate technology company

Compass, Inc. is an American licensed real estate broker that utilizes the Internet as a marketing medium with the use of real estate technology. Compass employs more than 25,000 agents who earn a percentage of the selling price and give a percentage of each commission to Compass, consistent with the traditional real estate brokerage business model. Compass specializes in high-margin, luxury homes in upscale markets. Founded in 2012, the company is headquartered in New York City. The company provides software to real estate agents. Compass is the first company to have built a proprietary mobile app for real estate agents.

Stephen M. Peck was an American investor and philanthropist who co-founded the asset management firm Weiss, Peck & Greer.

References

  1. 1 2 The Real Deal: "Bob Toll" by Lauren Elkies retrieved November 7, 2013
  2. ↑ New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths TOLL, SYLVIA (NEE STEINBERG)" October 14, 2001
  3. ↑ Philly Magazine: "House of Girth" May 15, 2016
  4. 1 2 3 4 Philadelphia Inquirer: "As a New Era Comes Together Bruce E. Toll: "Anybody can call me," the new chairman invites" By Bob Fernandez June 25, 2006
  5. 1 2 3 4 USA Today: "CEO Profile: Defensive mind-set keeps Toll Bros. going" by Noelle Knox January 28, 2008
  6. ↑ Businessweek Corporate Profile: "Bruce Toll" retrieved November 8, 2013
  7. 1 2 3 4 Upstart Business Journal: "Master Overbuilder" by Andrew Rice September 18, 2008
  8. 1 2 Philadelphia Inquirer: "Building an empire Bruce Toll's job now goes far beyond housing" By Bob Fernandez June 06, 2005
  9. ↑ Fox Business: "Toll Brothers to Buy Shapell Homes for $1.6B, 4Q Revenue Soars" By Matthew Rocco Archived 2013-11-10 at the Wayback Machine November 07, 2013
  10. 1 2 3 BET Investments: "Bruce E. Toll - Principal" Archived June 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine retrieved November 8, 2013
  11. 1 2 New York Times: "Jennifer Toll, Brett Schulman" May 9, 2009
  12. ↑ New York Times: "WEDDINGS; Michelle Toll, W. A. O'Flanagan" September 14, 1997
  13. ↑ New York Times: "WEDDINGS; Wendy Toll, Douglas Topkis" June 04, 2000
  14. ↑ New York Times: "Elizabeth Toll, Leonard Tannenbaum" May 25, 1997
  15. ↑ Philly Magazine: "Bruce Toll Says (Former) Son-In-Law Defrauded Him - A rich man’s bad cocktail: money and family" By Victor Fiorillo December 14, 2011
  16. ↑ Gara, Antoine (9 February 2016). "Leonard Tannenbaum's Fifth Street: Fooling The Right People Some Of The Time". Forbes . Retrieved 10 July 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.