Taubman nominates Michelle Goldberg for election to its Board as Independent Director

– USA, MI –  Taubman Centers, Inc. (NYSE:TCO) today announced that its Board of Directors has nominated Michelle J. Goldberg, a Partner at Ignition Partners and a Venture Partner at SoGal Ventures with significant technology, investment, retail disruption, finance and digital media expertise, as well as board experience, to stand for election to the Company’s Board at the 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

“As technology continues to transform the retail landscape and consumer preferences, we are delighted to nominate Michelle to serve as a new independent director of Taubman as part of our robust, multi-year board refreshment process that has been supported by Heidrick & Struggles,” said Mike Ullman, Lead Director and Chair of the Board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

“Michelle is a powerful leader and investor in the fields of consumer-facing technology, digital media and data analytics, and she will also bring to the Taubman Board her significant public and private board experience, investment expertise and history of fiduciary responsibility. Michelle is also familiar with REIT-related matters, including through her prior service on the board of a publicly-traded REIT. Michelle will be a strong addition to our transformed and refreshed Board of Directors and an asset to the Company in navigating the evolving retail landscape, including with respect to maximizing relevance to millennials and targeting digitally native brands.”

In addition to Ms. Goldberg, the incumbent directors whose terms expire this year and are being nominated to stand for re-election to one-year terms are Mayree C. Clark, Michael J. Embler, Janice L. Fields, Nancy Killefer and Ronald W. Tysoe. With the election of Ms. Goldberg to the Taubman Board along with the other members of Taubman’s slate, Ms. Goldberg will be the third new independent director to join the Taubman Board in 2019, and the Board will have a majority of female directors. In addition, seven of the Board’s nine directors will have been newly elected since 2016, reflecting the Board’s focus on expanding the skillsets, experience, perspectives and diversity of its directors. Current director Jonathan Litt, the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Land & Buildings Investment Management, will conclude his director service at the 2019 Annual Meeting and not stand for re-election. Taubman expresses its recognition of Mr. Litt’s time and service on the Board and of Land & Buildings’ involvement as an engaged shareholder.

About Michelle Goldberg

Ms. Goldberg is a seasoned technology investor with strategic, financial and governance experience and a focus on consumer-facing, digital media and retail opportunities leveraging data analytics and investing in emerging consumer technologies. She also has a deep understanding of enterprise technology, including cloud computing, big data, scalability and SaaS. She is a partner of Ignition Partners (since 2007), a venture capital fund dedicated to funding and cultivating entrepreneurs in technology, and a Venture Partner at SoGal Ventures (since 2017), a female-led fund investing in how the next generation lives, works and stays healthy.

Ms. Goldberg has substantial public company board and corporate governance experience and has served as a board member, observer and advisor to a number of technology companies. She currently serves on the board of Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM) as a member of the Audit Committee and the Risk Committee and previously served on the board of Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc. (NYSE:PCL), a REIT specializing in the timber industry, where she was a member of the Compensation Committee until Plum Creek’s merger with Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY). Over the past two decades, she has also served on various privately held portfolio company boards, including in the mobile, social and digital commerce and enterprise software industries.

Ms. Goldberg was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Technology by the Puget Sound Business Journal and was one of the publication’s “40 under 40” honorees in 2008 and a Hall of Fame inductee in 2018. Ms. Goldberg is a Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and is an advocate and fundraiser for women in technology and investing. Ms. Goldberg, who is conversant in Mandarin, has a B.A. in Asian Studies from Columbia College where she is now a member of the Board of Visitors and an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Harvard University.

Before joining Ignition Partners, Michelle consulted to Microsoft’s Developer Division (1999 to 2000), worked as an investment banker in middle market mergers and acquisitions at Olympic Capital Partners (1997 to 2000), and served as a management consultant with A.T. Kearney (1994 to 1997) and the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) in Taiwan (1991 to 1992).

Ms. Goldberg commented, “With retail facing accelerated change from eCommerce and other trends, I am thrilled to join Taubman’s Board. I believe my background in technology and digital commerce will enable me to bring a unique perspective to the Board. I am excited to leverage my learnings around emerging consumer technologies and evolving millennial mindsets for the benefit of Taubman investors. I look forward to working with my fellow Board members and the management team to provide strategic guidance and business input to create additional value for shareholders.”

About Taubman

Taubman Centers is an S&P MidCap 400 Real Estate Investment Trust engaged in the ownership, management and/or leasing of regional, super-regional and outlet shopping centers in the U.S. and Asia and one under development. Taubman’s U.S.-owned properties are the most productive in the publicly held U.S. regional mall industry. Founded in 1950, Taubman is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Taubman Asia, founded in 2005, is headquartered in Hong Kong.

For more, www.taubman.com.

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