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Showing 101 - 120 of 1329 items
By Evan I. Schwartz. 2002
“…Fascinating… A riveting American classic of independent brilliance versus corporate arrogance. I found it more fun than fiction.” — James…
Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers“… The fascinating inside story of how this eccentric loner invented television and fought corporate America.” — Walter Isaacson, chariman, CNN“…Compelling…Strong, dramatic prose…” — Kirkus Reviews“…A lively and engaging account.” — Library Journal“[A] gripping and eminently readable saga of the birth of television and the death of the Edisonian myth.” — Darwin magazineBy Gordon Ramsay. 1998
Everyone thinks they know the real Gordon Ramsay: rude, loud, pathologically driven, stubborn as hellFor the first time, Ramsay tells…
the full inside story of his life and how he became the world's most famous and infamous chef: his difficult childhood, his brother's heroin addiction, his failed first career as a soccer player, his fanatical pursuit of gastronomic perfection and his TV persona—all of the things that made him the celebrated culinary talent and media powerhouse that he is today. In Roasting in Hell's Kitchen Ramsay talks frankly about his tough and emotional childhood, including his father's alcoholism and violence and their effect on his relationships with his mother and siblings. His rootless upbringing saw him moving from house to house and town to town followed by the authorities and debtors as his father lurched from one failed job to another. He recounts his short-circuited career as a soccer player, when he was signed by Scotland's premier club at the age of fifteen but then, just two years later, dropped out when injury dashed his hopes. Ramsay searched for another vocation and, much to his father's disgust, went into catering, which his father felt was meant for “poofs.”He trained under some of the most famous and talented chefs in Europe, working to exacting standards and under extreme conditions that would sometimes erupt in physical violence. But he thrived, with his exquisite palate, incredible vision and relentless work ethic. Dish by dish, restaurant by restaurant, he gradually built a Michelin-starred empire.A candid, eye-opening look into the extraordinary life and mind of an elite and unique restaurateur and chef, Roasting in Hell's Kitchen will change your perception not only of Gordon Ramsay but of the world of cuisine.By Lowell Hawthorne. 2012
An inspirational rags-to-riches memoir by one of the most successful Caribbean-born businessmen living in America. "At 21, Hawthorne's parents shipped…
him off to New York, where his older siblings had already relocated. He eventually found a job, started college, and began to build the multi-million dollar business Golden Krust, whose Jamaican patties are a New York staple. Hawthorne's story is compelling on many levels: it offers a peek into life in Jamaica, a classic immigrant narrative, and a testament to the strength of family. Hawthorne's is a Horatio Alger tale with a Caribbean flavor, which should find an appreciative audience among entrepreneurs and business aficionados." --Library Journal "The American question gets a great, real-life look in The Baker's Son ... Hawthorne's story is at once inspirational and revelatory." --Publishers Weekly "In his memoir, The Baker's Son, Hawthorne shares how an idea inspired by his father's bakery in Border, Jamaica, grew into the 120-branch Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery and Grill. After 23 years of selling patties, pastries, sandwiches and more through Golden Krust, Hawthorne hasn't lost sight of his values." --New York Daily News "The Baker's Son is a deeply moving account that tells the story of an immigrant family from rural Jamaica that relocated to the Bronx in 1980s... the Hawthorne family has scaled the heights of success to achieve the American Dream to an unprecedented degree." --The Philadelphia Tribune "In gripping narrative that is both inspirational and instructive, Lowell Hawthorne shares how an idea infused with tenacity, intellect, and passion can become a dream realized. The Baker’s Son offers a successful playbook for any entrepreneur who seeks to play on the rough-and-tumble field of business--and win.”--Earl “Butch” Graves, Jr., President and CEO, Black Enterprise "Lowell Hawthorne's chronicle of the development of a small Jamaican business into the highly successful Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery and Grill, an American business empire, is an invaluable guide to business success as well as an inspiring autobiographical work."—P.J. Patterson, former prime minister of Jamaica The Baker's Son is a memoir by the founder of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill, the hugely successful Jamaican owned and run enterprise that reaches from New York to Florida with over 120 franchise locations. Starting from humble beginnings, and after weathering several major crises along the way, the Hawthorne family has scaled the heights of success to achieve the American Dream to an unprecedented degree. Today the Golden Krust brand represents the most lucrative Caribbean business ever established in America and one of the most profitable black businesses operating in the United States. Lowell Hawthorne is the president and CEO of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill. He lives in Westchester, New York.By Gerri Hirshey. 2010
True stories that explore the one of a kind union between people who are visually impaired and the guide dogs…
who become their steadfast partners. For fifty years, Fidelco has provided trained German Shepherds to more than 1200 men and women who have flourished with their help. The pairings are defined by devotion, intelligence, hard work, and most of all, trust. AdultWhen Business Is Love tells the story of Jan Ryde&’s mission to create the world&’s finest beds and to operate…
his fifth-generation business, Hästens Sangar, on the basis of love.Love.It isn&’t everything. It&’s the only thing.Despite the world being such a rich and abundant place, love is one thing that all the world is longing for, yet (as the old song goes) just can&’t seem to get enough of.In When Business Is Love: The Spirit of Hästens — At Work, At Play, and Everywhere In Your Life, Jan Ryde, the fifth generation CEO of family-owned Swedish bed manufacturer Hästens, reveals the secrets to running a business and living a life rooted in love.When Business Is Love is a book about what can happen when one approaches business and life with the single intention to give everyone involved the opportunity to experience their best life. When Business Is Love shares Jan Ryde&’s mission to make the world a better place by putting people first and leading with values of humility, honesty, integrity, mastery, gratitude, forgiveness, encouragement, joy, peacefulness, and — above all else: LOVE.Readers will follow Jan's personal journey from business school professor to CEO of a modest family business that he built into a global company, and learn from his successful leadership philosophy:* Why you must embrace your whole story — even the dark times.* The importance of a clearly-defined mission.* The magic of imagination and retaining one's child-like creativity.* How to step into and live in abundance through connection to the Source.* The myth of competition and how you only have to create to succeed.* The power of modeling and acting on the clues that success freely leaves for you.* The miracles that show up in your life when you invest in helping people to have their best life ever.Under Jan Ryde's management, Hästens, founded in Sweden in 1852 as a one-man saddlery, has grown into one of the world&’s most beloved brands with stores from Los Angeles to London, from Istanbul to Singapore. Hästens enjoys an outstanding international reputation for creating the finest beds in the world, as evidenced by a client list that includes everyone from Hollywood royalty to actual crowned heads of state. Its luxurious, handcrafted, top-of-the-line Grand Vividus sells for as much as a million dollars.Readers following Jan Ryde's example of business as love will find themselves asking the transformative question that motivates the entire Hästens team: how good do you want to have it?By Alan C. Greenberg. 2010
Former CEO of Bear Stearns, Alan Greenberg, sheds light on his life as one of Wall Street&’s most respected figures…
in this candid and fascinating account of a storied career and its stunning conclusion. On March 16, 2008, Alan Greenberg, former CEO and current chairman of the executive committee of Bear Stearns, found himself in the company&’s offices on a Sunday. More remarkable by far than the fact that he was in the office on a Sunday is what he was doing: participating in a meeting of the board of directors to discuss selling the company he had worked decades to build for a fraction of what it had been worth as little as ten days earlier. In less than a week the value of Bear Stearns had diminished by tens of billions of dollars. As Greenberg recalls, "our most unassailable assumption—that Bear Stearns, an independent investment firm with a proud eighty-five-year history, would be in business tomorrow—had been extinguished. . . . What was it, exactly, that had happened, and how, and why?" This book provides answers to those questions from one of Wall Street&’s most respected figures, the man most closely identified with Bear Stearns&’ decades of success. The Rise and Fall of Bear Stearns is Alan Greenberg&’s remarkable story of ascending to the top of one of Wall Street&’s venerable powerhouse financial institutions. After joining Bear Stearns in 1949, Greenberg rose to become formally head of the firm in 1978. No one knows the history of Bear Stearns as he does; no one participated in more key decisions, right into the company&’s final days. Greenberg offers an honest, clear-eyed assessment of how the collapse of the company surprised him and other top executives, and he explains who he thinks was responsible.The engrossing, insightful, and personal musical odyssey of Peter Shapiro, perhaps the most notable independent concert promoter since Bill Graham…
Peter Shapiro is the best known and most influential concert promoter of his generation. He owned the legendary Wetlands in Tribeca and has gone on to much bigger things, including Brooklyn Bowl (NYC, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Nashville), the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, producing U2 3D, and promoting the Grateful Dead&’s fiftieth-anniversary tour (&“Fare Thee Well&”) featuring the Core Four and Trey Anastasio . . . and so much more. In The Music Never Stops, Shapiro shares the inside story of how he became a power-house in the music industry—an island in an increasingly consolidated landscape of venues, ticketing, and touring—through the lens of fifty iconic concerts. Along the way, readers gain insight into what it was like to work with some of the most celebrated bands in modern music, including not just the Grateful Dead and U2, but also Bob Dylan, Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Al Green, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Jason Isbell, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Roots, Robert Plant, Leonard Cohen, and many more. Featuring never-before-published back-stage anecdotes, insights, and photographs of the biggest bands in the business and the concerts that later became legendary, The Music Never Stops is a perfect guide for any-one who wants to understand the modern live music industry.By Norena Shopland. 2021
In 1864, a poor Welsh boy, William Pritchard Morgan, emigrated to Australia to make his fortune. He returned a wealthy…
lawyer and aspiring politician, having used his riches to invest in gold mines and develop new techniques of recovering gold. His political aims were unsuccessful in Australia: the newspaper Morgan used to promote himself was involved a sensational trial against another editor; and a man was even shot while bringing in his votes - so Morgan claimed. He returned home, ready to tackle the mining of Welsh gold. After ousting the key players of the 1860s Little Gold Rush, Morgan soon took over Gwynfynydd, one of the area's most lucrative mines, and stood as an independent MP for Merthyr. He boasted of a fantastic seam of gold, so great he would pay off the national debt… a hero overnight, the Welsh Gold King took the title of Merthyr's MP. Despite the massive successes of his mines, the government taxed Morgan hard and almost crippled his business, so he refused to pay. When the government tried to shut him down, the public rose to his defence, and Morgan was sued in an avidly watched trial that could change mining in Britain forever. The Welsh Gold King bestowed gifts on many well-known people, including royalty, and promoted the tradition that all royal brides wear wedding rings of Welsh gold. He gave golden prizes – some of which caused great controversy – and his liberal politics were a forerunner of Labour views that were hard for many of his contemporaries to agree with. An extraordinary character, Morgan was pivotal in the story of mining for gold in Wales.Named one of Investopedia's 7 Best Economics Books of 2022The trailblazing story of Janet Yellen, the Ruth Bader Ginsburg of economics,…
and her lifelong advocacy for an economics of empathy that delivers the fruits of a prosperous society to people at the bottom half of the economic ladder. When President Biden announced Janet Yellen as his choice for secretary of the treasury, it was the peak moment of a remarkable life. Not only the first woman in the more than two-century history of the office, Yellen is the first person to hold all three top economic policy jobs in the United States: chair of both the Federal Reserve and the President&’s Council of Economic Advisors as well as treasury secretary. Through Owen Ullmann&’s intimate portrait, we glean two remarkable aspects of Yellen&’s approach to economics: first, her commitment to putting those on the bottom half of the economic ladder at the center of economic policy, and employing forward-looking ideas to use the power of government to create a more prosperous, productive life for everyone. And second, her ability to maintain humanity in a Washington policy world where fierce political combat casts others as either friend or enemy, never more so than in our current age of polarization. As Ullmann takes us through Yellen&’s life and work, we clearly see her brilliance and meticulous preparation. What stands out, though, is Yellen as an icon of progress—the &“Ruth Bader Ginsburg of economics&”—a superb-yet-different kind of player in a cold, male-dominated profession that all too often devises policies to benefit the already well-to-do. With humility and compassion as her trademarks, we see the influence of Yellen&’s father, a physician whose pay-what-you-can philosophy meant never turning anyone away. That compassion, rooted in her family life in Brooklyn, now extends across our entire country.By Frank A Cassell. 2017
In 1910, Bertha Honore? Parker ventured to the gulf coast of Florida to investigate real estate opportunities, launching her family's…
decades-long development of the Sarasota area. Parker, a businesswoman, women's rights activist, and Queen of Chicago Society, initiated infrastructure, expanded agriculture, and navigated political hiccups to lay the foundation for Sarasota's growth and legacy. Adult. Some strong languageBy Rob Copeland. 2023
The unauthorized, unvarnished story of famed Wall Street hedge-fund manager Ray Dalio. An instant New York Times bestseller!Ray Dalio does…
not want you to read this book.Late last year, when the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund on the planet, announced that he was stepping down from the company he started out of his apartment nearly 50 years ago, the news made headlines around the world. Dalio cultivated an aura of international admiration and fame thanks to his company’s eye-popping success, coupled with a mystique he encouraged with frequent media appearances, celebrity hobnobbing, and his bestselling book, Principles. In The Fund, award-winning New York Times journalist Rob Copeland punctures this carefully-constructed narrative of the benevolent business titan, exposing his much-promoted “principles” as one of the great feats of hubris in modern memory—in practice, they encouraged a toxic culture of paranoia and backstabbing.The Fund is a page-turning, stranger-than-fiction journey into a rarefied world of wealth and power. It offers an unflinching look at the pain so often caused by the “radical transparency” Dalio has described as a core tenet of his recipe for business success and a meaningful life. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with those inside and around the firm, Copeland takes readers into the room as former FBI director Jim Comey kisses Dalio's ring, recent Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick drinks the Kool-Aid, and a rotating cast of memorable characters grapple with their personal psychological and moral limits—all under the watchful eye of their charismatic leader. This is a cautionary tale for anyone convinced that the ability to make lots of money has anything at all to do with unlocking the principles of human nature.By Mike Evans. 2022
Nautilus Book Awards' Better Books for a Better World | Axiom Business Book Award WinnerGrubHub founder Mike Evans reveals the inside…
story of how he grew a multibillion-dollar behemoth that changed the way we eat. Hungry and tired one night, Mike wanted a pizza, but getting a pizza delivered was a pain in the neck. He didn&’t want to call a million restaurants to see what was open. So, as an avid coder, he created GrubHub in his spare bedroom to figure out who delivered to his apartment. Then, armed with a $140 check from his first customer and ignoring his crushing college debt, he quit his job. Over the next decade, Mike grew his little delivery guide into the world&’s premier online ordering website. In doing so, he entered the company of an elite few entrepreneurs to take a startup from an idea all the way to an IPO. GrubHub&’s journey from Mike&’s bedroom to Wall Street doesn&’t fit into how business schools teach entrepreneurship. In Hangry, he details step-by-step the grind of building an innovative business, with each chapter including sharp lessons for entrepreneurs and startups that Mike learned on the fly as he piloted GrubHub by the seat of his pants. Hangry reveals a decade of eighty-hour work weeks, detailed steps of how Mike garnered his first customers, his hunt for financing dollars, cliffhanger acquisitions, the near collapse of his marriage, a brutally difficult merger, and a pair of tumultuous quit/unquit moments, all to steer the company to become one of the most successful startups in the world. With a razor-sharp wit, Mike reveals hard-won truths about how startups succeed—and even harder-won truths about how startups fail. Shocking everyone, at the pinnacle of startup success, Mike leaves it all behind, quitting the company he started to bike across the United States in search of balance. But eventually, the grand vistas of America bring the lessons of the past into focus, driving the realization that for entrepreneurs a hunger for success doesn&’t end, and he starts another company, even more ambitious than the first.By Lucille O'Neal, Allison Samuels. 2010
“In Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go Lucille will take you on a 40-year journey from ‘mental welfare to…
mental wealth.’ You will laugh—you may cry—and in the process you will be encouraged, enlightened, and empowered.”—Paula White, author of Dare to Dream: See Yourself as God Sees You As the mother of one of the greatest athletes of all time, her journey is exceptional; but her story reveals that she is more than just “Shaquille O’Neal’s mom.”Lucille O’Neal is a woman you know, a woman you understand. Perhaps your own journey resembles hers. O’Neal has been a rebellious teen, a single mother, a wife, a college student, a divorcée, and, above all, a woman of unique courage. Acquainted early in life with turmoil, O’Neal’s circumstances shaped her perspective and strengthened her resolve to overcome the challenges she would encounter later in life. She has endured poverty, rejection, abuse, addiction, and the illness of a child, yet today her faith and compassion for others are stronger than ever. O’Neal writes candidly—and often humorously—about her years of spiritual unrest and mental warfare, and her return to the God of her childhood.In Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go, O’Neal shares her struggles and disappointments against the backdrop of her sweetest memories and proudest accomplishments. After fifty-five years, O’Neal has gained the wisdom to recognize her wrongs and guide others down a different path. Her story is proof that it’s never too late for a new beginning.By Ron Chernow. 1990
The National Book Award–winning history of American finance by the renowned biographer and author of Hamilton: “A tour de force”…
(New York Times Book Review).The House of Morgan is a panoramic story of four generations in the powerful Morgan family and their secretive firms that would transform the modern financial world. Tracing the trajectory of J. P. Morgan’s empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the financial crisis of 1987, acclaimed author Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the family’s private saga and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved—a world that included Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Franklin Roosevelt, Nancy Astor, and Winston Churchill.A masterpiece of financial history—it was awarded the 1990 National Book Award for Nonfiction and selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Twentieth Century—The House of Morgan is a compelling account of a remarkable institution and the men who ran it. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the money and power behind the major historical events of the last 150 years.By Lydia Fenet. 2023
You Are a Badass meets Grit in this powerhouse guide to overcoming your fear and finding the confidence within—from Christie&’s…
ambassador and author of the &“insightful, inspiring&” (New York Journal of Books) The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You.&“How do I become more confident?&” is the question Lydia Fenet hears almost every time she speaks to women across the country. Navigating a two-decade career at the world&’s leading auction house while raising three children, Lydia had her own journey of learning self-assurance. Through stories of overcoming challenges in both her work and personal lives, she demonstrates that confidence isn&’t something that only some people are born with; rather, it&’s inside every one of us, waiting to be claimed. Claim Your Confidence offers case studies, insights, and advice on how to: - Harness the Power of Positivity - Slam Your Imposter Syndrome - Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable - Grow Your Mindset And more! From building up the courage to do what scares you the most to persisting when all you want to do is give up, get ready to claim your confidence and get the life you want.By Laurence Meyer. 2004
As a governor of the Federal Reserve Board from 1996 to 2002, Laurence H. Meyer helped make the economic policies…
that steered the United States through some of the wildest and most tumultuous times in its recent history. Now, in A Term at the Fed, Governor Meyer provides an insider's view of the Fed, the decisions that affected both the U.S. and world economies, and the challenges inherent in using monetary policy to guide the economy.When Governor Meyer was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 1996, the United States was entering one of the most prosperous periods in its history. It was the time of "irrational exuberance" and the fabled New Economy. Soon, however, the economy was tested by the Asian financial crisis, the Russian default and devaluation, the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, the bursting of America's stock bubble, and the terrorist attacks of 9/11.In what amounts to a definitive playbook of monetary policy, Meyer now relives the Fed's closed-door debates -- debates that questioned how monetary policy should adapt to the possibility of a New Economy, how the Fed should respond to soaring equity prices, and whether the Fed should broker the controversial private sector bailout of LTCM, among other issues. Meyer deftly weaves these issues with firsthand stories about the personalities involved, from Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan to the various staffers, governors, politicians, and reporters that populate the world of the Fed.Since the end of his term, Meyer has continued to watch the Fed and the world economy. He believes that we are witnessing a repetition of some of the events of the remarkable 1990s -- including a further acceleration in productivity and perhaps another bull market. History does not repeat itself, yet Meyer shows us how the lessons learned yesterday may help the Fed shape policy today.By Larry Schweikart, Lynne Pierson Doti. 2010
This book vividly illustrates the history of business in the United States from the point of view of the enterprising…
men and women who made it happen.Ever since the first colonists landed in the New World, Americans have forged ahead in their quest to make good on promises of capitalism and independence. Weaving stirring narrative with economic analysis, this historical deep dive recounts the successes and failures of some of the most iconic business people to grace our history books--from the founding of our country to the present day.In American Entrepreneur, you&’ll learn about how:Eli Whitney changed the shape of the American business landscape;the Civil War impacted the economy, and how it was renewed by the subsequent dominance of Andrew Carnegie and J. P. Morgan;Asa Candler, W. K. Kellogg, Henry Ford, and J.C. Penney led the rise of the consumer marketplace;and Warren Buffett&’s, Michael Milken&’s, and Martha Stewart&’s experience in the &“New Economy&” in the 1990s--and how that economy continues today.It is an adventure to start a business, and the greatest risk takers in that adventure are entrepreneurs. This is the epic story of America&’s entrepreneurs and how they created the economy we enjoy today.By Paul Chrystal. 2021
The Rowntree family, especially Henry and the younger Joseph Rowntree are, along with the Fry’s, Cadbury’s, Mars and Terry’s, synonymous…
with the birth and growth of the chocolate industry in Britain. Between them, they were the chocolate industry in Britain. This book charts the fascinating story behind the birth and development of the chocolate empire that was Rowntrees. Background information to this astonishing business comes by way of chapters on the early history of the Rowntrees, contemporary York, the relationship between Quakers and chocolate, and the Tuke family – without whom there would have been no Rowntrees, and no Kit Kats. Henry, it is usually forgotten, was the founder of Rowntree’s – he made the momentous decision to sign the deal with the Tukes and we join him in those very early days of the fledgling company and watch how he helped it through some very dark, and sometimes humorous, times in what was then a very shambolic set up – cash strapped and making it up as the company lurched from crisis to crisis. Joseph, his elder brother, it was, who became the driving force to eventual global success, mixing his hectic business life with acts of compassion and a benevolent management model, all of which paved the way for decent wages, pensions, insurance and mutual respect in the workplace. Charity work extended beyond the factories to lift workers and others out of the slums of York to a life in a healthy model village, to provide a good social life, an extensive park, swimming pool and education for children and adults. More context is given with chapters on Joseph’s relentless industrial espionage, the advancements in chocolate production and 20th century rivals in the domestic and export markets, and mergers and acquisitions. Rowntree’s role in the two world wars is also covered along with the struggle Joseph Rowntree had accepting the importance of advertising. Altogether this book gives two fascinating biographies of two exceptional and driven brothers who came together to form one of our greatest companies - producing some of our best loved confectionery products.By Isaiah Wilner. 2006
Friends, collaborators, and childhood rivals, Briton Hadden and Henry R. Luce were not yet twenty-five when they started Time, the…
first newsmagazine, at the outset of the Roaring Twenties. By age thirty, they were both millionaires, having laid the foundation for a media empire. But their partnership was explosive and their competition ferocious, fueled by envy as well as love. When Hadden died at the age of thirty-one, Luce began to meticulously bury the legacy of the giant he was never able to best.In this groundbreaking, stylish, and passionate biography, Isaiah Wilner paints a fascinating portrait of Briton Hadden—genius and visionary—and presents the first full account of the birth of Time, while offering a provocative reappraisal of Henry R. Luce, arguably the most significant media figure of the twentieth century.Isaiah Wilner is a writer for New York magazine. He attended Yale University and was editor in chief of the Yale Daily News. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.By A. Taubman. 2007
In this candid memoir, A. Alfred Taubman explains how a dyslexic Jewish kid from Detroit grew up to be a…
billionaire retailing pioneer, an intimate of European aristocrats and Palm Beach socialites, a respected philanthropist and, at age 78, a federal prisoner. With a unique blend of humor and genius, Taubman shows how selling fine art and antiques really isn't that different from marketing root beer or football, and offers penetrating insights into that quintessential palace of commerce, the luxury shopping mall. Alfred Taubman may not have invented the modern shopping center but, in the words of The New Yorker, "he perfected it."Taubman's life has been a storybook success, with its share of unique challenges. A pioneer builder and innovative real estate developer, he was also a brilliant land speculator, operator of a quick-serve restaurant chain, and owner of a major department store company. But what seemed like the pinnacle of his career, buying and reinventing the venerable art auction house Sotheby's, would lead to his conviction in an international price fixing scandal.Despite the twists and turns, Taubman's life and business philosophy can be summed up in one evocative phrase: Threshold Resistance. Understanding and defeating that force—breaking down the barriers between art and commerce, between shoppers and merchandise, between high culture and popular taste—has been his life's work.