Robert I. Toll, innovative cofounder, chairman emeritus of Toll Brothers builders, and philanthropist, has died at 81

Robert I. Toll, 81, formerly of Solebury Township, the innovative and charismatic cofounder, former chairman, and chief executive officer of Toll Brothers Inc., philanthropist, and civic activist, died Friday, Oct. 7, of Parkinson’s disease at his home in Manhattan.

Mr. Toll founded Toll Brothers in 1967 with his younger brother, Bruce, and they grew the company into one of the world’s most successful builders of luxury single homes, active adult communities, residential rental properties, urban high-rises, and other developments.

Known for his savvy investments, canny reading of the market, and what one colleague called his “searingly charismatic” personality, Mr. Toll was determined to build “on the corner of Main and Main” as often as possible and dominate the move-up market of people upgrading into more luxurious homes.

So the company purchased as many lots as possible in desirable locations over the years and displayed eye-popping sample homes to attract buyers before the real construction even began. Today, the company estimates that more than 150,000 families across the United States live in a home built by Toll Brothers.

“Everything has to have pizzazz,” Mr. Toll told The Inquirer in 1983, and his alluring samples featured fires crackling in fireplaces, the smell of baking bread, soft music, and a dining-room table set with dishes and napkins. “We’re really not a home builder,” he said in 1988. “We’re in the entertainment business. We satisfy dreams and egos.”

Chairman and CEO from the company’s founding until 2010, Mr. Toll remained on the board of directors until recently, and his tenure featured a 1986 debut on the New York Stock Exchange, $9 billion in annual home-building revenue, and wild success in more than 60 markets in 24 states.

“He could persuade anybody to do anything,” said former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, who collaborated with Mr. Toll on a number of building projects and political fund-raising events during the 1990s. “He was hard-driving, and he knew what he wanted. He wanted to give people the best that he could.”

Under Mr. Toll’s leadership, Toll Brothers was named the 2014 Builder of the Year by Builder magazine, and, in announcing the brothers’ induction into the magazine’s hall of fame in 2017, writer John McManus noted Mr. Toll’s “unique amalgam of leadership qualities — razor sharp focus, a passion for minutia and questions, the thrill of the deal, and a strong measure of humor in the mix.”

Mr. Toll was named a top CEO three times by Institutional Investor magazine, was on Barron’s list of top CEOs twice, and the company won the 1995 National Housing Quality Award from Professional Builder magazine. “He was the epitome of success, but he also really wanted to make things better through politics and philanthropy,” Rendell said.

To that end, Mr. Toll and his wife, Jane, supported the American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, Say Yes to Education Foundation, the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network, and many other groups. He was on the boards at the University of Pennsylvania, Penn’s Carey Law School, the Cornell real estate council, Seeds of Peace, and other organizations.

“Bob had such a profound impact on so many of us in so many unique ways,” said Douglas C. Yearley Jr., chairman and CEO of Toll Brothers. “His huge heart, unique sense of humor, zest for life, and profound intelligence.”

Born Dec. 30, 1940, in Philadelphia, Mr. Toll grew up in Elkins Park and graduated from Germantown Academy. The son of a real estate developer, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Cornell University in 1963 and law degree from Penn in 1966.

He practiced law for just a year before founding Toll Brothers and married Norma Spear. After a divorce, he married Jane Snyder Goldfein, and together they raised daughters Laurie, Deborah, and Rachel, and sons Joshua and Jacob.

An enthusiastic opponent on the tennis court and golf course, Mr. Toll also played softball at the company’s annual picnics, raced sailboats in Long Island Sound, skied the Colorado mountains, and swam in lakes with his family in Maine. He liked opera, and was witty and quick with quotable conclusions.

“One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor,” he told The Inquirer in 2019. “Some see the light at the end of the tunnel as a train coming toward us. Others see it as a great opportunity.”

Bruce Toll said: “One of the happiest days of my life was when Bob quit the practice of law, and we joined together to start Toll Brothers. ... I am forever grateful for our lives together as brothers and business partners.”

In addition to his wife, children, and brother, Mr. Toll is survived by 12 grandchildren and other relatives.

Family services are private. A celebration of Mr. Toll’s life is to be held later at company headquarters in Fort Washington.

Donations in his name may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, P.O. Box 4777, New York, N.Y. 10163.