Replacing A Legend

Joel Rassman was a legend in the financial community. Serving as the Chief Financial Officer of Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) since 1984, Rassman was an integral part in the company's success.

Sadly, his career came to an end last September when he lost his battle with leukemia. At that time, it was unknown who would take his place as CFO. But when Toll Brothers chose Marty Connor to be his successor, the company was confident that it found a man who could follow in Rassman's footsteps.

“Joel was certainly irreplaceable and invaluable while he was here at Toll Brothers and certainly in the legacy that he left, not only with me, who worked side by side with him for his last two years here, but the entire finance team and operations team that has been here at Toll,” Connor told Benzinga during an exclusive interview. “It was a joy to have the two years to work with Joel and it's been a little bittersweet ever since.”

EXCLUSIVE!: Full Interview With Marty Connor, CFO of Toll Brothers

“I joke that I always look forward to him being in the back seat as he handed the reins over to me and unfortunately, he's not there right now,” Connor added.

Connor said that Rassman did a great job of positioning the company “through the downturn and to emerge stronger than ever out of the downturn.”

“Under Joel's stewardship, we have one of the strongest, if not the strongest, balance sheets in the industry,” Connor said. “And we maintain investment grade ratings from two of the three ratings agencies, despite our business being off 75% from the top of the market.”

To hear more from Toll Brothers' Chief Financial Officer, don't miss Benzinga's full interview with Marty Connor.