Robert Toll Steps Down as Executive Chairman of Toll Brothers

(Bloomberg) -- Robert Toll will step down from his position as executive chairman of the homebuilder he co-founded, effective Nov. 1.

Chief Executive Officer Doug Yearley will become chairman of Toll Brothers Inc., the company said. Toll, 77, will continue to serve on the board of directors and as a special adviser to the company. He was well-known among analysts and reporters for his comments on earnings conference calls, when he would assign a letter-grade rating to each of the markets where the company builds homes.

As the housing market was slowing in 2007 and 2008, he assigned grades of F to regions such as Orlando, Tampa and the west coast of Florida, as well the New Jersey suburbs and Chicago.

Toll, the country’s largest luxury homebuilder, was founded more than 50 years ago. Its shares rose 0.4 percent today to $31.30. They are down about 35 percent this year.

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