Adolph Alfred "Al" Taubman (January 31, 1924 – April 17, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was convicted in 2002 for a price-fixing scheme involving the top two auction houses in the United States.

Background

Taubman was born in Pontiac, Michigan, on January 31, 1924, to Jewish immigrants Fannie Ester Blustin and Philip Taubman. His parents came to the United States from Białystok, in northeastern Poland. His mother was his father's second cousin. Arriving up the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

by boat, Philip took a job with the Wilson Foundry Company in Davenport, Iowa and his sister Goldye (born 1913) and older brothers Sam (born 1915) and Lester (born 1920) were born in Davenport. His father transferred to Pontiac in 1920, became a fruit farmer, then began developing commercial real estate and custom homes and built the first synagogue in Pontiac. Taubman's parents lost everything in the Depression of the 1930s, and Taubman at age 9 had to find work to help support the family. He is a graduate of Pontiac Central High School. He enrolled at the University of Michigan just before the United States' entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, enlisted in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during his freshman year, served with the

Thirteenth Air Force The Thirteenth Air Force (Air Forces Pacific) (13 AF) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It was last headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been sta ...

as a mapmaker in the Pacific Theater during the war and returned under the GI Bill to the University of Michigan to continue his studies after the end of World War II. Taubman studied architecture at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

where he was a member of

Zeta Beta Tau Zeta Beta Tau () is a Greek-letter social fraternity based in North America. It was founded on December 29, 1898. Originally a Zionist youth society, its purpose changed from Zionism in the fraternity's early years when in 1954 the fraternity be ...

fraternity and Lawrence Technological University, but graduated from neither.

Shopping mall development

His developments such as the Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey continue to be ranked among the most profitable shopping centers in the country. He made a fortune which ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine estimated at $3.1 billion and was on the list of

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is pub ...

Richest Americans for two decades. In October 2003, his real estate firm

Taubman Centers Taubman Centers, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The company invests in shopping centers, and is a subsidiary of Simon Property Group since 2020. History The company was founded in 19 ...

survived a hostile

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...

bid by the

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in India ...

and

Westfield America Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...

. On February 10, 2020, it was announced that Simon Property Group had entered into a deal to acquire competing

for $52.50 a share, in a deal valued at $3.6 billion.

Sotheby's

Taubman bought the ailing British auction house,

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

, in 1983, acting as a white knight when the company was threatened by a hostile and unwanted

by Marshall Cogan and Stephen Swid of General Felt. He revived the fortunes of Sotheby's, which had been slumping in the 1980s; he took the company

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

in 1988. His family divested controlling interest in Sotheby's by September 2005.

Antitrust conviction

In the early 2000s, a four year investigation into alleged price-fixing masterminded by Taubman between

and chairman Sir Anthony Tennant's rival auction house Christie's led to a confession by Sotheby's CEO Diana Brooks of an elaborate price fixing scheme with her counterpart at Christie's, Christopher Davidge. At the time, Christie's and Sotheby's controlled 90% of the world's market for fine furniture, fine art and exquisite jewelry. In a plea bargain arrangement, prosecutors offered to keep her out of prison if she agreed to implicate Taubman. She did, and thereafter Taubman was convicted in a jury trial of price fixing. He was fined $7.5 million (USD) and imprisoned for ten months in 2002 for antitrust violations. Taubman was released in 2003, and continued to insist on his innocence.

Other business

Taubman bought

A&W Restaurants A&W Restaurants is an American fast food restaurant chain distinguished by its Hamburger, burgers, draft root beer and root beer floats. Being the oldest restaurant chain in America, A&W's origins date back to 1919 when Roy W. Allen set up a r ...

in 1982,History
@ A&W Rootbeer and sold it to Sagittarius Acquisitions in December 1994. From 1983 to 1984, Taubman was the majority owner of the

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. Although the Panthers acquired a fairly loyal following and won the first USFL title in 1983, the USFL's decision to move from the spring to the fall led Taubman to merge his team with the

Oakland Invaders The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The team can tra ...

for the 1985 season, with himself as majority owner of the Invaders. That team folded along with the rest of the USFL after the 1985 season.

Personal life

Taubman was married twice: * In 1948, Taubman married his college sweetheart, Reva Kolodney. In 1977, they divorced after 29 years of marriage.Threshold Resistance: The Extraordinary Career of a Luxury Retailing Pioneer By A. Alfred Taubman
retrieved August 10, 2012 They had three children: ** Gayle Taubman Kalisman (b. 1951) is co-chair of the Taubman Institute and a

alumn. ** Robert S. Taubman (b. 1953) serves as chairman, president and chief executive officer of the

Taubman Company Taubman Centers, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The company invests in shopping centers, and is a subsidiary of Simon Property Group since 2020. History The company was founded in 19 ...

. ** William S. Taubman (b. 1958) serves as chief operating officer of the Taubman Company. In 1982, he married Judith Mazor Rounick (b. 1943 as Jehudit Mazor), the daughter of a paste jewelry importer-exporter and a former

Miss Israel Miss Israel ( he, מַלְכַּת הַיֹּפִי, , ) is a national beauty pageant in Israel. The pageant was founded in 1950, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe. The pageant was also existing to send delegates to Miss World, Miss I ...

in 1962. Judy grew up in Israel and had two children from a previous marriage to clothing manufacturer Herbert Rounick: Christopher Rounick and Tiffany Rounick Dubin (formerly married to real estate developer Louis Dubin). Judith's brother is Boaz Mazor who is the sales director for

Oscar de la Renta Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014), known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta ...

.San Francisco Gate: A day in the life of ... Boaz Mazor" by Carolyne Zinko
August 22, 2004 Taubman died on April 17, 2015, of a heart attack at the age of 91 in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...

Philanthropy

Taubman donated large sums to the

and many buildings there are named after him, including the A. Alfred Taubman Biomedical Science Research Building, the Taubman Health Sciences Library and Taubman Health Care Center. A school within the university is also named for him: the

Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, also known as Taubman College, is one of the nine professional schools at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Taubman College offers the following degrees: Bachelor of Science ...

. Taubman was also a major sponsor of disease research: a late donation, a gift of $5 million to support the University of Michigan's Dr. Eva Feldman's and Dr. Yehoash Raphael's research, was aimed at the development of new treatments for

Lou Gehrig's disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

and deafness, respectively. In 2011, Taubman donated $56 million to medical research. These donations brought his lifetime giving to Michigan to a total of $141 million. Biomedical_Science_Research_2010

He also donated to the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University, and The Taubman Center for State and Local Government at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. The A. Alfred Taubman Student Services Center at Lawrence Technological University was completed in 2006, and ground was broken in September 2015 for the A. Alfred Taubman Engineering, Architecture, and Life Sciences Complex at Lawrence Tech. Taubman had also taught a class at LTU focusing on his retail real estate development experience. The A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education at the

College for Creative Studies College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a private art school in Detroit, Michigan. It enrolls more than 1,400 students and focuses on arts education. The college is also active in offering art education to children through its Community Arts Par ...

was completed in 2009, in which Taubman contributed $15 million to the $145 million budget for restoration and remodeling of what once was the General Motors

Argonaut Building The Argonaut Building, renamed in 2009 the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education (originally the Argonaut, or General Motors Research Laboratory), is a large office building located at 485 West Milwaukee Avenue in the New Center area of D ...

.Howes, Daniel.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taubman, A. Alfred 1924 births 2015 deaths American art collectors American billionaires American businesspeople convicted of crimes American businesspeople in retailing American real estate businesspeople American white-collar criminals Businesspeople from Detroit Jewish American art collectors Jewish American philanthropists Lawrence Technological University alumni People from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan People from Pontiac, Michigan Sotheby's people United States Football League executives Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews