Leadership times two – the legendary Taschen publishing house

Taschen publishing house: father and daughter at the top

She found out while giving a joint interview that her father intended for her to join him at the helm of the publishing house. Marlene Taschen didn’t lose a beat, nor did she allow her surprise to show. “I couldn’t, nor did I wish to address the matter in that situation,” she recalls. The incident says a lot about father and daughter: about Benedikt’s sometimes impromptu way of doing things, about the self-assurance they share and about the deep trust they have in one another.

Even after the interview, Marlene never really addressed the issue or discussed it at length with her father. “No, no,” she says in her wonderful Rhenish singsong before breaking into the cheerful laugh that so often punctuates her sentences. “I let the news settle for a bit, then I said, okay, I’ll do it.” Clear-headed as she is, she also told her father that leading the company together would require some changes – and that the responsibility woud need to rest firmly on both of their shoulders.

A company between Milan and Los Angeles

For the past eight years now, Marlene Taschen has been shaping the company that she has known since early childhood – with curiosity, pragmatism and gentle but collaborative authority. Father and daughter, both free-spirited individuals, share responsibility in a way that works well for both of them. Marlene lives with her family in Milan while Benedikt lives in Los Angeles, where has been based for many years. They don’t get in each other’s way, either; most of the people who work for the publisher live in the same time zone as Marlene, so she pulls the strings in Europe. In the evening, when her two daughters are in bed, and she knows her father has finished his breakfast in California, she gives him a call. You can tell by the way she describes this daily ritual that she looks forward to the exchange – a highly efficient handover from one continent to another. “We basically work around the clock,” she says.

Teamwork: There is no clear division of roles

This year, the legendary publishing house that Benedikt Taschen founded in Cologne, originally as a small comic store, is celebrating its 45th anniversary. Taschen is a global company today with offices from Paris to Los Angeles. Its editorial program is as extraordinary as its origins: spectacularly opulent limited-edition collector’s editions that become more expensive with every passing year; provocative erotic art books and a series of introductory volumes on individual artists and other cultural topics for a mass audience. With prices ranging from €10 to over €30,000, it’s a very unique mix that celebrates the beautiful, the bizarre, the gaudy and the glamorous.

Father and daughter don’t have strictly separate spheres of work. “We never had a conversation about me doing this and him doing that – things just unfold,” says Marlene. Her father is still deeply involved in developing the editorial program, but she makes plenty of executive decisions too. Whether it’s the XL Salvador Dalí monograph or the Ferrari tome with its iconic design, Marlene is involved in all levels of the production process. She was also the driving force behind the expansion into Asia, opening a large Taschen store in Hong Kong in addition to an office there. She works closely with artists and architects in Japan, plans shop-in-shop formats and travels frequently to maintain her contacts. At the same time, she is expanding the product portfolio and currently producing a documentary on the British photographer David Bailey. “We just decided to do it,” she says laconically, responding to a question about Taschen’s foray into film. Together with Ai Weiwei, she developed a pure gold necklace composed of zodiac charms. The Chinese artist is a well-known figure in the Taschen universe. The large-format collector’s edition on his life and work, published by Taschen in 2016, sold out right away.

The Taschen Cosmos reaches an international audience

Marlene Taschen’s ideas don’t follow a five-year plan but rather a flow that develops organically. “Things have to fall into place somehow. If they don’t, maybe there’s a reason,” she says. She divides her time into blocks of alternating weeks, dedicating one week to scheduled meetings and leaving the second week open for strategic work and her own projects. This combination of structure and flexibility is perfect for her as it reflects her wish not to get bogged down. “Be flexible” is also her father’s maxim, which he in turn borrowed from his friend Helmut Newton – and which Marlene has taken to heart. Not that there’s anything arbitrary about her approach, because for her, maintaining quality takes priority over all else. “Fundamentally, my father and I are always trying to do things better. It’s another attribute that he passed on to me.”

In Milan, Marlene recently oversaw the expansion of the bookbinding facility, which opened on the city outskirts on 4,000-square meters of space. At the building site, she took an interest in all aspects of the work, concerning herself with every last detail. “I simply enjoy working with people, regardless of the topic. Funnily enough, I find it almost as interesting to think about logistical matters as I do about IT, system development, editing or production.”

Marlene Taschen: her role in the family business

It quickly becomes clear that Marlene Taschen is a woman who acts rather than just talks. She has a genuine interest in people, listens attentively, values other perspectives – and isn’t afraid to revise a decision if necessary. She describes herself as representing the “warmer components” of the family business – a role she fills with quiet confidence.

Despite her solid schooling – which included stints in Australia and Panama and a degree from the London School of Economics – her approach to doing business is instinctive. Trusting her gut feeling is another thing she inherited from her father. The Taschens have never relied on market research. “But we look at the figures very carefully.” What works and what doesn’t is something they just seem to know, although experience naturally plays a role. Having studied psychology as well as business probably helped.

Marlene grew up in Cologne, Germany. She and her two siblings attended a Montessori elementary school; later, she graduated from a bilingual high school. It was a fairly grounded upbringing – except for the occasional dinner guest: Cicciolina and Jeff Koons once stopped by, on another evening it was Christo and Jeanne-Claude. At 14, she picked up Muhammad Ali from the airport and rode with him to the book fair – in a Maybach, with Elvis blaring.

Marlene Taschen hasn’t lived permanently in her native Germany since she was 18, but her connection to Cologne remains strong. She travels to the headquarters on the Hohenzollernring once a month. Equanimity seems to run in the family. “My parents separated a long time ago,” she says. “But when you see them together, they do nothing but laugh. We’re a cheerful bunch.” Which is why, she adds, she has to enjoy what she does: “We don’t want to bore ourselves – or anyone else.”