25 Businesspeople who have made a difference in Memphis, 1979-2004

– Memphis Business Journal –

Bayard Boyle: Bayard Boyle is a name many Memphians attribute synonymously to Memphis real estate development.

He and his family have developed property throughout the Memphis area, from Midtown to Collierville, and have ties to the city’s beginnings. Boyle is a direct descendent of John Overton, who founded Memphis in 1819 with Andrew Jackson and James Winchester.

The family’s first real estate endeavor took place in the early 1900’s when Edward Boyle developed the Belvedere subdivision between Central and Union in Midtown Memphis. Today, Boyle is known for myriad other projects including Ridgeway Center, Schilling Farms, River Oaks, Regalia and Humphreys Center.

Boyle has been chairman of Boyle Investment Co. since 1986 and was president for 15 years prior to that.

Rusty Bloodworth, Boyle’s executive vice president, says the company has tried to facilitate the growth of Memphis in a careful and sensitive way and follows Bayard Boyle’s lead in making a lasting contribution to the city.

He’s not about doing this to get to have all that gold,” Bloodworth says. “It’s a different ethic.”

Beyond his civic vision, Bloodworth attributes Boyle’s success to his analytic and mathematics skills.

“I think part of the reason Bayard has done so incredibly well is he’s been very, very careful, and he’s also brought a talent in looking at the economics of a transaction,” he says.

James H. Daughdrill, president emeritus of Rhodes College, says Boyle’s greatest contributions often go unnoticed because he is not the kind of person that seeks limelight or acclaim.

Daughdrill describes Boyle, a member of Rhodes’ board of trustees, as a private man but also one who is “very thoughtful, very deep and very loyal.”

“He’s always thinking about something that can be done that would benefit others,” he says.