David Simon — the leader of Simon Property Group, the largest retail real estate company in the world — died March 22 at the age of 64.
Simon died following a 2024 cancer diagnosis. He remained at the helm of the company his father and uncle founded as he received medical treatment.
On Monday, The Simon Property Group Board of Directors appointed Eli Simon, David’s eldest son, to be the next chief executive and president of the Indianapolis-based company, continuing the family’s strong leadership of the company. Eli Simon will also continue to serve in his previous role, chief operating officer.
In a statement, the Simon family said David “poured his heart and soul into building Simon Property Group.” To those in the industry, he was known as a hardworking executive who worked long hours even when sick and who was not afraid to get into spats with retail industry leaders.
David joined Melvin Simon and Associates, the company’s predecessor, as chief financial officer in 1990 after starting his career as a Wall Street investment banker.
Simon stayed with Simon Property Group and was named CEO at 33 years old, becoming one of the youngest CEOs in the country. In his three decades as chief executive, Simon transformed the company from a regional real estate business into the largest mall ownership group and the largest publicly owned retail real estate company in the world. In that time span, Simon also solidified himself as a formidable leader in the real estate world.
David Simon married his wife Jackie in 1986. Together, the pair have five children. Simon, who became a billionaire, continued his family’s philanthropic efforts in Indianapolis through the David E Simon & Jacqueline S Simon Charitable Foundation, which donates to health and youth efforts, among other causes.
“Our family is deeply grateful for the tremendous outpouring of love and support we have received from across the globe,” a statement from the Simon family said. “He was most proud of his family, his wife of over 40 years Jackie, and their 5 children: Eli, Rebecca, Hannah, Sam and Noah, and 7 grandchildren. We ask for privacy as we grieve our great loss.”
Memorial arrangements will be shared by the Simon family at a later date. The family asked for any donations to be made to the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, the UJA Federation of New York and the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism in lieu of flowers.
David Simon Served 31 Years as Simon CEO
The son of Melvin Simon, David was born in Indianapolis and graduated from Indiana University with a business degree and later earned an MBA from Columbia University.
In 1990, Simon joined his family’s real estate company as a young, ambitious finance guru honed by the rigor of Wall Street. In 1993, Simon managed the company’s initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, the first time the business was publicly traded to investors. He raised nearly $1 billion in what was the largest real estate public stock offering in history at the time.
Shortly after, Simon took over the chief executive role in 1995 when he was 33. Simon led the company through 30 years of changing retail demands and pressures, including the 2008 recession, the 2020 global pandemic, the fall of department stores like Sears and Saks Fifth Avenue and most recently, the impact of tariffs on retail businesses — all events that shaped how the industry moves forward.
Simon would grow to become known as the shopping mall king, as the man in control of the most retail centers in the world. Those in the industry both admired and feared his tactics. Simon acknowledged himself that he could become heated. It was not unheard of for him to get into yelling matches with other retail leaders in between shaking hands for multi-million-dollar deals, according to Wall Street Journal reporting.
“I’ve been kind of, you know, a domineering-type CEO,” Simon told the Wall Street Journal in a rare 2025 interview at his New York office. “Obviously, right now, that’s impossible for me to do. I still do it occasionally.”
As the company grew its global portfolio, Simon saw the value in luxury, upgrading existing properties into premier and experiential shopping centers, the company said. At the time of his death, Simon Property Group controlled more than 250 properties totaling more than 200 million square feet across the world.
In Indianapolis, where the mall company remains headquartered, Simon Property Group poured money into the Fashion Mall at Keystone to make it the region’s premier shopping center.
Simon’s leadership for acquisitions of several companies, including DeBartolo Realty Corporation, Corporate Property Investors, Chelsea Property Group, the Mills Corporation and Taubman Center, solidified the Simons as the world’s largest mall owners.
Even in what has been a difficult few years for retail, Simon’s leadership of Simon Property Group showed that owning shopping malls can be extremely profitable.
In what would be his last earnings call as chief executive on February 2, Simon expressed optimism for the retail industry, where he predicted premium brands able to afford higher rates would keep the market afloat.
“The most important thing is traffic’s up, sales are up. The retailers that don’t make it, even though I could sit here and blame tariff, you know, they’re not highly productive retailers. And given that, you know, it’s our view that we can replace it with more productive retailers at higher rents,” Simon told investors.
Herb Simon, who started Simon Property Group with Mel Simon, said he was saddened by his nephew’s passing and reaffirmed the work his nephew did to grow the family’s thriving real estate portfolio.
“I was proud to see him grow into an exceptional and transformative leader whose vision, dedication and discipline helped shape Simon Property Group into the world’s leading retail real estate company,” Herb Simon said in a statement. “His impact on our family, our community and the real estate industry will be felt for generations to come. We will miss him greatly.”
(This story has been updated with new information.)
Alysa Guffey covers business and development stories for IndyStar. Reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: David Simon, CEO of Simon Property Group, dies after cancer battle
Reporting by Alysa Guffey, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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