Toby McKenzie

Steve Allen "Toby" McKenzie (June 11, 1953 – May 2, 2013) was an American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist from Cleveland, Tennessee. He began his career by founding two rent-to-own businesses and later made his fortune after founding National Cash Advance, a payday lending company. He later began investing in businesses and real estate speculations, and lost all of his assets as a result of the Great Recession.

Early life and education McKenzie was born to Bob and Gail Bettis McKenzie in 1953 in Bradley County, Tennessee. He had one brother, Mark Patrick McKenzie. He attended Bradley Central High School, where he played football and baseball. He graduated in 1971. After high school, he took a job as a paperboy for the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Cleveland Daily Banner. He sold the company in 1999. At the time of its selling, the National Cash Advance included 550 stores nationwide.

In the early 2000s McKenzie began investing in real estate developments that he believed would increase in value by borrowing money from multiple banks. These included hundreds of acres of land in East Tennessee and over 100 businesses including a golf course in Ooltewah, a bowling alley, a hotel in Sweetwater, a used car dealership and a shopping center on Paul Huff Parkway in Cleveland that was never built. These reckless investments would eventually lead to his bankruptcy.

In 2004 he founded McKenzie Trucking & Leasing, a trucking company. He was then ordered to make $11.5 million in lease payments on defaulted properties. The following year he lost millions of his assets including an unfinished home.

Philanthropy

McKenzie made numerous donations to local schools and causes, including the United Way, Lee University, and Habitat for Humanity. In 2000 McKenzie and his wife pledged $4 million to an athletic center that adjoins the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Personal life McKenzie was of the Pentecostal faith and was a member of Mount Olive Church of God.