Settled

Christie's depressed Sotheby's stock.
Taubman, the majority stockhold-
er, bought Sotheby's with Detroiters
Max Fisher and Henry Ford II for
$135 million and took the company
private. Ford died in 1987, and
Taubman
took the company public
ALAN ABRAMS
again
in
1989.
Fisher serves on the
Special to the Jewish News
board of Sotheby's Holdings Inc.
Forbes magazine has estimated
Bloomfield Hills businessman
Taubman's net worth at $720 mil-
and philanthropist last week
lion (before the Sotheby's
agreed to pay $186 million
settlement), $5 million
to settle civil claims
under the cut-off to make
brought against Sotheby's,
its latest list of the 400
the New York-based auc-
richest Americans. In
tion house of which he is
1999, he made the list as
former chairman.
No. 295 with $820 mil-
A. Alfred Taubman, 75, is
lion.
the shopping center mag-
The Wall Street Journal
nate whose Taubman
estimated
that his shares
Centers company devel-
in
Sotheby's
are worth
oped and managed the
about
$309
million.
Fairlane, Briarwood and
A. Alfred Taubman
Taubman has been a
Great Lakes Crossing
generous donor to public
regional centers, among
institutions like the Detroit
others across the country.
Institute
of
Arts
and the University of
His son Robert is now the compa-
Michigan.
He
gave
$30 million to U-
ny's chief executive.
M's
College
of
Architecture
and Urban
Taubman agreed to pay $156 mil-
Planning,
and
the
university
has named
lion of Sotheby's $256 million por-
the A. Alfred Taubman Health Center
tion of a $512 million settlement. In
and the Taubman Medical Library in
exchange, the company settled all
his honor.
potential claims against him.
He is also the donor of the
The $256 million is matched by a
Taubman
Center for Public Policy
similar payment from Christie's, the
and
American
Institutions at Brown
London-based auction house that
University
in
Providence,
R.I.
was accused of collaborating with
Taubman
is
a
generous
giver
to the
Sotheby's to fix fees against 120,000
Jewish
Federation
of
Metropolitan
buyers and sellers. The alleged vic-
Detroit's Annual Campaign (former-
tims filed suit in March, claiming
ly the Allied Jewish Campaign). In
that the companies cooperated to fix
appreciation of his gifts to the
fees as far back as 1992.
Detroit Jewish community, the
Lawyers reached the $512 million
Jewish
Community Campus on 10
settlement Sept. 21.
Mile
Road
in Oak Park was named
In another settlement announced
for
him.
In
addition, there is a
Sept. 24, Taubman agreed to pay
Taubman-Fisher Memorial Park in
$30 million on behalf of Sotheby's
Jerusalem named after both
to resolve a lawsuit in which share-
Taubman and Max Fisher.
holders claimed the deal with

Taubman pays portion of
claim against Sotheby's.

A

❑

Recapturing
The Spirit

Judy and Sandy Gelman of West
Bloomfield were overwhelmed when
their son Jascha, 26, died last October
in a traffic accident.
But the Gelmans, their surviving son
Gabe and hundreds of friends experi-
enced a powerful connection during the
funeral and shivah. Now the Gelmans
will try to recapture those emotions at a
reunion" event for Jascha's friends over
the weekend of Oct. 20.
"There was something about this
that was bigger than all of us," said

"

Judy Gelman. "People go on with
their own lives, but there was a
tremendous impact — a feeling here
— that carries on."
She contacted 200 of Jascha's friends
via e-mail. More than 100, including
many from out of town, are planning
to attend the Gelmans' Oct. 20 party
and the unveiling of Jascha's cemetery
headstone on Oct. 22.
"This is not closure," Judy Gelman
said. "There is never closure. But we
learned so much about him after his
death, about his powerful connection
with people. The kids just want to be
here. They want to be together."

— Alan Hitsky, associate editor

