Alfred Taubman, the shopping-mall tycoon and former owner and chairman of Sotheby’s, has died, aged 91. Though credited with turning Sotheby’s into one of the world’s leading auction houses, the US billionaire’s reputation was severely tarnished when he was convicted in 2002 for conspiring with Christie’s chairman to fix commission rates (actions Taubman always denied). As well as a hefty fine he spent almost a year in federal prison. He was flown to and from jail in a private jet. Meanwhile, Christie’s head, Anthony Tennant, was indicted but never stood trial, as he could not be extradited from the UK. Some felt Taubman was made the sacrificial lamb for the auction houses’ shenanigans in the 1990s.
Born in Pontiac in Michigan, Taubman bought his first store in 1950. His empire steadily grew to include some of America’s biggest shopping malls, real estate, movie theatres and root beer. Taubman acquired a controlling interest in Sotheby’s in 1983 and in 1988, was responsible for listing the auction house on the New York Stock Exchange, on which it is now the oldest member company. Taubman sold most of his shares for a profit in 2005. The subtitle of his 2007 autobiography was “the Extraordinary Career of a Luxury Retailing Pioneer”.
An avid art collector and generous philanthropist, Taubman was also a major supporter of the Detroit Institute of Arts. He donated tens of millions of dollars to the institution among others and gave several works including Paul Klee’s Small Landscape with a Garden Door (1928).
In 2007, Taubman told The Art Newspaper how he paid for his “eight-figure” legal defence and fines. “Even rich men don’t have $286m on hand to write a cheque to the government,” Taubman said. “I had a drip Pollock. I sold the Pollock for $33m to David Geffen. I had to change my will. I was giving it to the Detroit Institute of Arts.” Taubman recalled how the art museum stood by him, even in the worst of times.
More recently, the longtime president of the the City of Detroit Arts Commission stood by the art museum, helping it fight off a forced-sale of masterpieces after Detroit was declared bankrupt.
For our obituary, see Alfred Taubman: art and root beer