(Bloomberg) — David Simon, the chairman and chief executive officer of US shopping mall heavyweight Simon Property Group (SPG), died of cancer. He was 64.
Simon joined family-owned Melvin Simon & Associates as chief financial officer in 1990 and steered the firm through a public listing three years later, according to a company statement. He took over as CEO in 1995 at 33.
Since then, Simon has amassed an empire of 250 properties across North America, Europe and Asia, including top-tier malls such as King of Prussia in Pennsylvania, Roosevelt Field in New York, Sawgrass Mills in Florida and the Houston Galleria.
The firm grew through a series of acquisitions and dispositions as the US mall industry struggled through the e-commerce revolution, the pandemic and other existential threats. His acquisitions included the DeBartolo Realty Corp., Corporate Property Investors, Chelsea Property Group, the Mills Corp. and Taubman Centers.
“Under his stewardship, SPG became the largest retail owner in the world,” Floris Van Dijkum, an analyst with Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., said in a note Monday. “And shareholders benefited handsomely with the stock generating total returns over 4,500% since IPO.”
Eli Simon, son of the late chairman, was named CEO and president and Larry Glasscock was named non-executive chairman.
“David Simon was, quite simply, the finest leader in the history of the retail real estate industry,” Glasscock said in the company statement. “His unmatched strategic vision transformed a privately held family business into an esteemed global institution — creating billions of dollars in value for shareholders along the way.”
He is survived by his wife, Jackie, their five children — Eli, Rebecca, Hannah, Sam and Noah — and seven grandchildren.
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