A. Alfred Taubman | |
---|---|
Born |
Adolph Alfred Taubman January 31, 1924 Pontiac, Michigan, US |
Died | April 17, 2015 Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, US |
(aged 91)
Nationality | American |
Education | The University of Michigan, Lawrence Technological University |
Known for | Designing the modern indoor shopping mall |
Net worth | US $3.1 billion (as of May 10, 2015) |
Spouse(s) | Reva Kolodney (1948–1977; divorced) Judith (Mazor) Rounick (1982–2015; his death) |
Children |
3 with Kolodney: --Gayle Taubman Kalisman --Robert S. Taubman --William S. Taubman 2 stepchildren: --Christopher Rounick --Tiffany Rounick Dubin |
Parent(s) | Philip Taubman Fannie Ester Blustin |
Adolph Alfred Taubman (January 31, 1924 – April 17, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.
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. Philip took a job with the Wilson Foundry Company in Iowa, transferred to Pontiac in 1920, became a fruit farmer, then began developing commercial real estate and custom homes.
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.
Taubman studied architecture at the University of Michigan where he was a member of Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity and Lawrence Technological University, but graduated from neither.
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 magazine estimated at $3.1 billion and was on the list of Forbes 400 Richest Americans for two decades.
In October 2003, his real estate firm Taubman Centers survived a hostile takeover bid by the Simon Property Group and Westfield America.
Taubman bought the ailing British auction house, Sotheby's, in 1983, acting as a white knight when the company was threatened by a hostile and unwanted takeover by Marshall Cogan and Stephen Swid of General Felt. He revived the fortunes of Sotheby's, which had been slumping in the eighties; he took the company public in 1988. His family divested controlling interest in Sotheby's by September 2005.