Melvin and Bren Simon
MELVIN SIMON
Co-Chairman of the Board
Simon Property Group, Inc.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Melvin Simon is co-chairman of Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, Inc., a member of the S&P 500 and the largest U.S. publicly traded real estate company. Simon Property Group, is engaged primarily in the ownership, development, and management of retail real estate, primarily regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers®, and community/lifestyle centers. It currently owns or has an interest in approximately 285 properties in the United States; more than 50 properties in Europe; five Premium Outlet centers in Japan; and one Premium Outlet center in Mexico.
In addition, he serves as co-chairman of the board of Melvin Simon & Associates, Inc., which, until the formation of Simon Property Group in 1993, was the nation’s second-largest developer and manager of shopping centers.
Mr. Simon attended the Bronx High School of Science and the City College of New York where he earned a BS degree in accounting and an MBA with emphasis on real estate. He came to Indiana while serving in the U.S. Army when a transfer brought him to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis.
Following his discharge from the Army and prior to creating Melvin Simon & Associates in 1960 with brothers Herbert and Fred, Mr. Simon worked as a leasing representative with the Albert Frankel Company, an Indianapolis developer of strip shopping centers.
Mr. Simon’s diversified business interests beyond real estate include co-ownership with his brother Herbert of the Indiana Pacers.
Mr. Simon, like his wife Bren, supports numerous charitable, political, and civic organizations. He has also earned his fair share of distinctions, including Jewish Welfare Federation’s “Man of the Year,” The Horatio Alger Award, and a seat in the Central Indiana Business Hall of Fame. In 2003 he was named a “Lifetime Trustee” of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and is a former trustee of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Mr. Simon holds honorary doctorate degrees from Indiana University Kelley School of Business and Butler University, and is a member of the Real Estate Legends Hall of Fame housed at the USC School of Urban Planning and Development.