David E. Simon is chairman and chief executive officer of Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, an S&P 500 company and the largest U.S. publicly traded real estate company.
Early life and education:
Simon is the son of Jewish American real estate developer Melvin Simon and his first wife Bess (née Meshulam).He obtained a B.S. degree from Indiana University in 1983 and an M.B.A. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business in 1985.
Career:
Simon started his career at First Boston. From 1988 to 1990, he worked at Wasserstein Perella & Co. as a vice president.
He joined Simon Property precursor Melvin Simon & Associates in 1990 as Chief Financial Officer. In 1993, he led the efforts to take Simon Property Group public with a nearly $1 billion initial public offering that, at the time, was the largest real estate stock offering. He became CEO in 1995 and Chairman in 2007.
He is a member and former chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) board of governors and is a former trustee of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). He has received numerous industry honors, and in 2000, he was inducted into the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Academy of Alumni Fellows.
Philanthropy:
In 2013, he donated $5 million support the construction Columbia Business School's new facilities.
Personal life:
In 1986, he married Jacqueline Susan Freed. They have five children: Eli, Rebecca, Hannah, Samuel, and Noah.