David Simon, Mall King Who Was Both Feared and Admired, Dies at 64 -- Journal Report

Dow Jones03-23

David B. Simon co-founded Insuring a Better World Fund. "David Simon, Mall King Who Was Both Feared and Admired, Dies at 64," at 9:51 a.m. ET on March 23, incorrectly said that the fund was co-founded by David E. Simon.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 24, 2026 10:33 ET (14:33 GMT)

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Simon. \n\n<pre style=\"white-space: pre\">\n \n</pre>\n\n (END) Dow Jones Newswires\n\n\n March 24, 2026 10:33 ET (14:33 GMT)\n\n\n Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones &amp; Company, Inc.\n\n","source":null,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>David Simon, Mall King Who Was Both Feared and Admired, Dies at 64 -- Journal Report</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nDavid Simon, Mall King Who Was Both Feared and Admired, Dies at 64 -- Journal Report\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n<div class=\"head\" \">\n\n\n<div class=\"h-thumb\" style=\"background-image:url(https://static.tigerbbs.com/150f88aa4d182df19190059f4a365e99);background-size:cover;\"></div>\n\n<div class=\"h-content\">\nDow Jones \n2026-03-23 21:51\n</div>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n\n\n By Suzanne Kapner and Kate King \n\n\n David Simon, whose ruthless negotiating tactics, obsession with details and sheer force of will turned his family's real-estate business into the largest mall owner in the country, died Sunday after battling cancer. He was 64 years old. \n\n\n During his more than three decades as <a href=\"https://laohu8.com/S/SPGS.WS\">Simon Property</a> Group's chief executive, the inveterate dealmaker gobbled up competitors and defied critics, who said malls were obsolete. Over a decadeslong buying spree, he cobbled together an empire that spanned 250 properties and 206 million square feet -- giving Simon control of more retail space than anyone in the world. \n\n\n His success helped propel the family to the wealthiest echelons, with an estimated net worth of $11.6 billion in 2024, ranking No. 38 on Forbes magazine's list of the richest American families. The Simon family through a charitable foundation donates to many causes, including a $5 million gift to Columbia University. \n\n\n At a time when malls were failing and retailers were filing for bankruptcy, Simon invested in his properties, beefed up its luxury offerings and added non-shopping tenants such as high-end fitness centers, high-tech minigolf courses and upscale restaurants. \n\n\n Along with partners, he snapped up ailing retailers, including Aéropostale, Nautica, Eddie Bauer, J.C. Penney, Forever 21, Lucky Brand and Brooks Brothers. The arrangement propped up the chains, prevented large vacancies in Simon malls and turned out to be moneymakers for the company. \n\n\n Effective Monday, Simon's board appointed Eli Simon, one of David Simon's five children, as its chief executive officer and president. He will also retain his chief operating officer position. \n\n\n Feared and admired \n\n\n The mall king was both feared and admired and could be both charming and terrifying. \n\n\n Simon unleashed a tirade at Coach executive Todd Kahn during their first meeting in the first decade of the 2000s, after the handbag maker tried to renege on deals to open stores in Simon malls. \"There was no shortage of profanity,\" Kahn said. \n\n\n The two came to an agreement, and became friends. \"David's word was his bond,\" Kahn said. \"You could have bang-out meetings, but if you came to a resolution and you shook hands, it was golden.\" \n\n\n Simon told The Wall Street Journal in a 2025 interview that he was passionate and got animated, but insisted his outbursts were partly showmanship. \"Emphasizing a point,\" he called it. \n\n\n He could also be cool under pressure, whether sinking a 10-foot put on the 18th hole of a golf tournament or walking away from a multibillion-dollar deal. \n\n\n After pursuing rival Rouse for years (at one point he even joined a golf club at the behest of Rouse's then-CEO Tony Deering) Simon instead bought another company he thought showed more promise -- outlet mall owner Chelsea Property Group. It was the right decision; the acquisition diversified and proved profitable to Simon's portfolio. \n\n\n Another mall owner, <a href=\"https://laohu8.com/S/GGP\">General Growth Properties</a>, bought Rouse in a $12.6 billion acquisition financed almost entirely by debt and later went bankrupt. \n\n\n \"David saw value where others could not,\" said David Contis, a former <a href=\"https://laohu8.com/S/SPGS.U\">Simon Property</a> Group president. \n\n\n School and then back home \n\n\n Born in August 1961, in Indiana to Melvin Simon and his first wife, Bess Meshulam, Simon grew up alongside his father and uncle's retail-development business, Melvin Simon &amp; Associates. \n\n\n Simon majored in accounting at Indiana University, where he spent his spare time reading, attending Hoosiers basketball games and pursuing fellow student Jacqueline Freed. At the last minute, Freed canceled their first date to a Rolling Stones concert, but Simon continued to pursue her. \"That's perseverance,\" Simon said. \n\n\n They were married for more than 40 years and had five children. \n\n\n The couple moved to New York after graduation, where Simon earned his M.B.A. from Columbia University and started working on Wall Street during a boom time for mergers and acquisitions. After a few years he told his boss, legendary Wall Street financier Joseph Perella, that he was heading back to Indianapolis to help his family's troubled business. \n\n\n \"He said, 'They know how to build shopping centers, they don't know how to negotiate with banks,' \" Perella said. \n\n\n Simon's uncle Herbert Simon was hesitant. Simon recalled his uncle saying, \"You can join, but I'm not really sure what you're going to do.\" Simon told him he would \"figure it out.\" \n\n\n At the time, the business was short on cash and overloaded with debt. Simon paused the development pipeline, unwound unfavorable partnerships and prepared the company for a public offering to generate much-needed liquidity. \n\n\n In 1993, the firm put most of its properties into a new company, <a href=\"https://laohu8.com/S/SPGSW\">Simon Property</a> Group, and went public in what was, at the time, the biggest IPO in history for a real-estate investment trust. \n\n\n Simon became CEO two years later, at age 33. He embarked on a decadeslong buying spree, spending more than $40 billion on acquisitions. \n\n\n \"What I always admired is he's always had the ability to look ahead and think strategically and evolve his company to be ahead of the trends that we have been dealing with,\" said Stephen Lebovitz, the CEO of mall owner CBL Properties. \n\n\n Cancer diagnosis \n\n\n After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2024, Simon cut back his work schedule, often limiting meetings from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Still, he was always on hand and even once called into a board committee meeting from his hospital bed. \n\n\n \"I've been kind of, you know, a domineering-type CEO,\" Simon said in 2025. \n\n\n The eldest of his five children, Eli, joined the company in 2019 and assumed an ever-larger role. \n\n\n Simon had long wanted his son to succeed him. \"Certainly I think he should aspire to it and I think he's capable of doing it,\" he said. \n\n\n The David E. Simon and Jacqueline S. Simon Charitable Foundation has given to various causes, including higher education, health, arts and culture as well as those that support Judaism. He co-founded Insuring a Better World Fund, which enables life-insurance policyholders to turn their policies into charitable gifts. \n\n\n In 2013, Simon donated $5 million to Columbia Business School to help pay for construction of new facilities at its Manhattanville campus. \n\n\n Simon gave back despite feeling slighted by the school, from which he graduated with honors in 1985. When he visited the campus in 2006, he came across a list of the top 50 alumni -- and he wasn't on it. \n\n\n \"I couldn't even make the top 50!\" Simon said at the time. \"Believe me, I saw 40 through 50 and, I think, I could have made the top 50, OK?\" \n\n\n Simon is survived by his wife, Jackie, and their five children: Eli, Rebecca, Hannah, Sam and Noah, and seven grandchildren. \n\n\n Write to Suzanne Kapner at suzanne.kapner@wsj.com and Kate King at kate.king@wsj.com. \n\n<pre style=\"white-space: pre\">\n \n</pre>\n\n (END) Dow Jones Newswires\n\n\n March 23, 2026 09:51 ET (13:51 GMT)\n\n\n Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones &amp; Company, Inc.\n\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"SPG","symbol_name":"西蒙地产","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://dowjonesnews.com/newdjn/logon.aspx?AL=N","article_id":"2621015927","we_media_id":"106","thumbnails":[],"rights":null,"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2621015927","pubTimestamp":1774273860,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":null,"weMediaInfo":{"media_name":"Dow Jones","introduction":"Dow Jones publishes the world’s most trusted business news and financial information in a variety of media.","home_visible":0,"id":"106","head_image":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/150f88aa4d182df19190059f4a365e99"},"summary":"David Simon, whose ruthless negotiating tactics, obsession with details and sheer force of will turned his family's real-estate business into the largest mall owner in the country, died Sunday after battling cancer. He was 64 years old.During his more than three decades as Simon Property Group's chief executive, the inveterate dealmaker gobbled up competitors and defied critics, who said malls were obsolete. Over a decadeslong buying spree, he cobbled together an empire that spanned 250 properties and 206 million square feet -- giving Simon control of more retail space than anyone in the world.His success helped propel the family to the wealthiest echelons, with an estimated net worth of $11.6 billion in 2024, ranking No. 38 on Forbes magazine's list of the richest American families. The Simon family through a charitable foundation donates to many causes, including a $5 million gift to Columbia University.Simon unleashed a tirade at Coach executive Todd Kahn during their first meeting ","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"SPG":"西蒙地产","BK4585":"ETF&股票定投概念","CBL":"CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.","BK4588":"碎股","BK4231":"零售房地产信托","CFA.SI":"NikkoAM-STC Asia REIT","BK4080":"零售业房地产投资信托"},"translate_title":"令人敬畏和钦佩的购物中心之王大卫·西蒙去世，享年64岁——《华尔街日报》报道","themeId":"8603dabb40994e59ac78c04c930c0d49","isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"CFA.SI":0.64,"SPG":0.9,"CBL":0.9},"content_text":"David B. Simon co-founded Insuring a Better World Fund. \"David Simon, Mall King Who Was Both Feared and Admired, Dies at 64,\" at 9:51 a.m. ET on March 23, incorrectly said that the fund was co-founded by David E. Simon. \n\n\n \n\n\n (END) Dow Jones Newswires\n\n\n March 24, 2026 10:33 ET (14:33 GMT)\n\n\n Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":true,"code":"91000000","status":"200"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"tenantId":"TBGLOBAL","deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.38.0","shortVersion":"4.38.0","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2621015927","isCrawlerRequest":true}