Melvin Simon

Melvin Simon (October 21, 1926 – September 16, 2009) was an American businessman and film producer, who co-founded the largest shopping mall company in the United States, the Simon Property Group, with his younger brother, Herb Simon. The pair jointly purchased the Indiana Pacers in 1983. Early life and education Simon was born to a Jewish family in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and grew up in the Bronx, the son of Max and Mae Simon. His father was a tailor who had emigrated from Central Europe. Simon graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and earned a degree in accounting from the City College of New York in 1949. He then served in the US Army where he was stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis in 1953. He supplemented his army pay working as a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman. After leaving the military, he decided to stay in Indianapolis and took a job as a leasing agent where he saw the potential in real estate. Career Real estate