In 1984, his venture into the art book business began with a coup: with borrowed money from an aunt, he purchased 40,000 remainder copies of English-language Magritte monograph for one dollar apiece at a trade show in the United States.
[10] When Vanity Fair’s Matt Tyrnauer deemed him, “one of the few people in business who has the courage to do exactly what he wants whenever he wants to”, Benedikt Taschen tested the theory with Helmut Newton’s SUMO, the largest bound book of the 20th century,[11] released in 1999 with its own stand designed by Philippe Starck, at what was then the astounding price of $1500.
Four years in the making, GOAT weighs 75 lbs and is 20" × 20" in size, with nearly 800 pages of archival and original photographs, graphic artwork and articles and essays – including those of Ali himself.
A studio head, someone who is in firm command and has his hand in everything.”[15] In turn, Matt Weiner, creator and producer of the hit series Mad Men, described Taschen as “a miracle of taste in publishing ...
[16] Benedikt Taschen has continuously been listed in the ARTnews 'Top 200 collectors' since 2003, artnet ranks him and his wife Lauren first among the “10 Los Angeles Art Power Couples”.
[19] In 2014, Taschen donated $500,000 to the Wende Museum in Culver City, California, to facilitate the founding of an international center for the exploration and preservation of the culture, art, design, and history of the Cold War.
[27] Basically, everything I ever needed to learn about capitalism I learnt from Carl Barks and his characters Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge.Benedikt Taschen is a miracle of taste in publishing … He consistently maintains incredible quality in content and style … He documents both the present and the past in an indispensable way.Benedikt reminds me of an old-time Hollywood figure—a studio head, someone who is in firm command and has his hand in everything.I have done a lot of books, and I can tell you — without mentioning names — that publishers are not all like him.