Former North Carolina state auditor, he quit his day job in 1981, to become the founder and president of Replacements Limited, the world's largest retailer of old and new tableware (specializing in discontinued china, crystal and silver patterns), a company with sales in excess of $71 million and 750 employees (more than 150 of whom are gay).

Bob is a philanthropist, making many donations to LGBT organizations, including the Democratic National Committee's new Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council (GLLC); he is #23 on the gfn.com (Gay Financial Network) 1999 list of the 25 most influential out gay and lesbian executives in corporate America, and one of the 2001 gfn.com 25.