Bruce Toll

Origins and early life

Bruce Toll was born on 29 April 1943 and grew up in Elkins Park, a suburb of Philadelphia, where from his earliest days he knew he wanted to be a builder. At the age of thirteen he was already hauling materials at one of the housing developments of his father, Albert Toll, a home builder. He earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Miami in 1965, attended its graduate school of business in 1966, and then took night classes in architecture at Temple University.

Work and career

In 1967 he founded Toll Brothers with his older brother Robert, starting with a first project in Caln Township, in Chester County, and a coin toss made him president and his brother chairman. He kept the company's books for many years as chief financial officer, saw it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1986, and served as president until 1998 and then as vice chairman until he resigned in 2016. He served on the boards of Beth Sholom Synagogue and of the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, and he has supported the National Museum of American Jewish History, in addition to other museums.

Through his company BET Investments he develops and manages office, commercial and industrial properties as well as apartments, and he also owns automobile dealerships, among them Reedman-Toll Auto World in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. He co-founded the wireless company UbiquiTel, which provided Sprint PCS service in mid-sized markets of the western and midwestern United States until its acquisition by Sprint in 2006. He has served as treasurer of the board of trustees of Abington Memorial Hospital and on the executive board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, an institution he has supported.