BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JULY 24, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- PERSONALITIES

Edward C. "Toby" Lenk


Born: 1961, Boston

Education: BA in economics, Bowdoin College, 1983; MBA, Harvard Business School, 1987.

Family: The son of a banker and a homemaker. Parents divorced when he was 9. Single, but devoted to nephew Georden, 7, and nieces Anna, 11, and Courtney, 18.

Career: Health-policy researcher, Washington, 1983-85; consultant, LEK Partnership, 1987-90; research fellow, Harvard Business School, 1990-91; vice-president for strategic planning, Walt Disney, 1991-96; president, CEO, and Uncle of the Board, eToys, June, 1997.

Lesson learned at Disney: Details matter. ''At Disney's parks there are those guys dressed in clean shirts sweeping up gum wrappers every three minutes, and people notice that. Walt Disney knew that all the little details add up to be a big part of the brand.''

Favorite toys as a child: Scuba G.I. Joe, Lego, cowboy figurines, and wooden cavalry forts. Loved building things: ''When I was a kid, I had rockets blasting off in the backyard.''

Hobbies: Golf, hiking with his dogs, Amos and Tucker.

First managerial position: At 19, worked as the caddy master at the Hyannisport golf club. ''We had 70 caddies and never knew who was going to show up....I implemented a formal schedule and an incentive program.''

Current worth of his eToys ownership: $49 million. Yet he still rents a small home in Santa Monica and drives a leased Toyota Land Cruiser.



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