Taubman, Take Two

By R.J. King

DBUSINESS / MARCH-APRIL 2011

A. Alfred Taubman had started out playing cards in 1950 rather than building the nation’s most successful collection of luxury shopping malls, the World Series of Poker would today be one of the most anticipated annual sporting events in the world. Casino resorts, many of them designed, developed, and built by Taubman, would send their best players to a revolving array of exotic destinations to compete for prestige, wealth, and instant celebrity.

“You have to be somewhat of a risk-taker in business, but if all you do is take risks, you won’t last,” Taubman says from his oceanfront estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where the 86-year-old serial entrepreneur is taking a much-needed break from co-developing a state-of-the-art movie studio at a former General Motors engineering campus in his hometown of Pontiac.

“You need discipline, you have to do your homework, and then you make measured decisions,” he adds. Whether it’s buying land, art, department stores, or a fast-food-and-root-beer franchise, Taubman says the pillar of his business methodology is rooted in fairness. If all parties in a prospective deal can’t attain something of value, or aren’t treated appropriately, he’s not interested.

Time and again, when faced with the prospect of earning financial gains at the expense of short-changing individuals or businesses, Taubman has taken a pass. His philosophy has served him well and has given him a net worth of $1.5 billion (Forbes, March 2010), but he could have easily made much, much more.

In 1986, flush with cash — the mall tycoon and his partners sold a sizeable stake in the Irvine Ranch real estate development in California, while the pension funds of General Motors and AT&T invested in the Taubman Co. (then valued at $2 billion) — the former retail sales clerk was asked by the financial house of Lazard Frères to purchase a stake in the Pulitzer Publishing Co. While the conglomerate of major newspapers, along with radio and television stations, was an attractive and well-run operation, Taubman passed on the deal. Read more here.