Karl Mistry, MPS-RE ’04 – the third consecutive Cornell alumnus to lead the Fortune 500 luxury home-building company Toll Brothers – will speak with current students on Feb. 26 as part of the Cornell Real Estate Distinguished Speaker Seminar Series.

The event, which will take place from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Breazzano Family Center for Business Education, LL23, is open only to the Cornell community and will not be livestreamed.

Toll Brothers was co-founded by Robert Toll ’63 with his brother Bruce, in 1967, and has been led by a Cornellian ever since.

“Karl is interested in the question of solving housing challenges in the United States, and Toll Brothers has been active in that,” said Cody A. Danks Burke, director of the Baker Program in Real Estate and professor of practice in the Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate. “The other part of the discussion will be business-oriented: How do you underwrite a deal? How do you finance it? How do you find the land and put a deal together?”

Mistry joined Toll Brothers as an assistant project manager in the company’s executive training program in 2004, after graduating from the Cornell Baker Program in Real Estate. He was promoted to division president in 2012, group president in 2016, and became regional president of the Mid-Atlantic region in 2019. After he reached his current position as executive vice president in 2021, he was selected as the company’s next CEO.

On March 30, Mistry will formally succeed Douglas C. Yearley, Jr. ’82 to become the third CEO of Toll Brothers.

At the talk, Mistry will discuss the history of Toll Brothers, share industry insights from the home-building business and explain current housing trends. He will also reflect on how the Baker program positioned him for success. 

The speech will be followed by a reception and dinner where students will have the chance to talk with Mistry more closely.

“It’s easy to stay in touch when you’re fresh out of school, but it’s something else to stay in touch when you’re the CEO of Toll Brothers. He makes time to do that, which is impressive and indicative of the bond our students form with real estate at Cornell,” Burke said.

Nina Collavo is a writer for the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.