David Simon

Early life Simon was born in August, 1961 He was educated at North Central High School and 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.

In 1990, he joined Simon Property precursor Melvin Simon & Associates 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 was a past chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) leadership team and a onetime trustee of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). In 2000, he was inducted into the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Academy of Alumni Fellows.

Philanthropy In 2013, he donated $5 million to support the construction of Columbia Business School's new facilities.

Personal life and death In 1986, he married Jacqueline Susan Freed. They had five children.

Simon died from pancreatic cancer on March 22, 2026, at the age of 64.