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David A. Siegel

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mathew5000 (talk | contribs) at 00:53, 14 February 2013 (citing quotation to The New Yorker, The Telegraph, The Independent, and The Orlando Sentinel). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

David Alan Siegel
Born1935
Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Miami
Occupation(s)Businessman, Philanthropist
OrganizationWestgate Resorts Ltd
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Bettie I. Whitaker 1961-1968
Bettie Siegel (m. 1970, div. 1997)
Jackie Siegel 1998?-present
ChildrenSteven, Valerie, Richard and 10 other
Parent(s)Sidney Siegel and Sadelle Siegel
RelativesBarry Siegel (brother)

David A. Siegel (born 1934 or 1935) is an American entrepreneur and founder of Westgate Resorts Ltd, where he serves as president and chief executive officer. He also serves as the CEO of CFI Resorts Management Inc. and Central Florida Investments Inc. Siegel's businesses includes real estate, timeshares, construction, hotel and apartment management, travel services, telecommunications, citrus, insurance, transportation, and retail.

Siegel was born in 1935 in Chicago to Sadelle Siegel and grocer Sid Siegel[3] who later moved the family and grocery business to Miami, Florida in 1945[4][5]. Siegel grew up in Florida where he graduated from Miami Senior High School (1953) and later from the University of Miami.[6]

Siegel married in 1961 to Geri, but the marriage lasted until 1968.[7] Married again in 1970, Siegel moved from Miami to Orlando with second wife Bettie.[8]

Divorced for a second time in 1997, Siegel met his current wife Jackie in 1998.[9]

Siegel's businesses, family, and personal life were adversely affected by the 2008 financial crisis, as seen in the documentary The Queen of Versailles.

In July 2012, Siegel said the market was rebounding, and he was expanding his businesses. He also announced plans to continue construction of the extravagant Florida home featured in the documentary.[10]

Siegel campaigned for George W. Bush in 2000, and has claimed that he was personally responsible for Bush being elected president because he secured more votes in Florida than Bush's margin of victory in that state.[11][12] Although previously on record as saying what he did to secure those votes was legal,[11] in the documentary The Queen of Versailles Siegel says on camera, "it may not necessarily have been legal".[13][14][15][16][17][12][18]

In a February 2012 interview by Susan Berfield, Siegel elaborated:

"Whenever I saw a negative article about [Al] Gore, I put it in with the paychecks of my 8,000 employees. I had my managers do a survey on every employee. If they liked Bush, we made them register to vote. But not if they liked Gore. The week before [the election] we made 80,000 phone calls through my call center—they were robo-calls. On Election Day, we made sure everyone who was voting for Bush got to the polls. I didn’t know he would win by 527 votes. Afterward, we did a survey among the employees to find out who voted who wouldn’t have otherwise. One thousand of them said so."[19]

During the 2012 United States elections, Siegel caused controversy and public debate when he sent a mass email to his employees, advising them to vote for Republican Party candidate Mitt Romney.[20]

In 2008 Siegel was found liable in a sexual-harassment lawsuit brought by former Westgate employee Dawn Myers. After a trial in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the jury awarded $5.4-million but the judge reduced the award to $610,000.[11] In the trial award, Myers recovered $103,622.09 in compensatory damages and $506,847.75 in punitive damages arising from her claim of battery under state law, but her claims of sexual harassment were found to be time-barred.[21] The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal and cross-appeal, affirming the district court's verdict.[21]

Siegel studied marketing and management at the University of Miami.[22]

References

  1. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/david-siegel-westgate-letter-layoffs-firings-obama-win-victory-raises_n_2092582.html
  2. ^ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-06-08/news/dead08_1_siegel-orlando-woman-golden-arm
  3. ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/993/000357919/
  4. ^ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2002-02-03/news/0202020346_1_david-siegel-tough-talker-central-florida
  5. ^ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-06-08/news/dead08_1_siegel-orlando-woman-golden-arm
  6. ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/993/000357919/
  7. ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/993/000357919/
  8. ^ http://realestate.msn.com/inside-what-would-be-the-biggest-house-in-america?page=1
  9. ^ http://realestate.msn.com/inside-what-would-be-the-biggest-house-in-america?page=2
  10. ^ Reuters
  11. ^ a b c "Mr. Big". Orlando Magazine. June 2009. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  12. ^ a b Goldberg, Adam. "David Siegel, Florida Real Estate Mogul, Claims To Be 'Personally Responsible' For George W. Bush's 2000 Victory". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  13. ^ Richard Brody. "The Film File: The Queen of Versailles". The New Yorker.
  14. ^ David Gritten (2012-09-07). "The Queen of Versailles: farewell to the American dream". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-02-13. {{cite web}}: Text "http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/9511619/The-Queen-of-Versailles-farewell-to-the-American-dream.html" ignored (help)
  15. ^ Anthony Quinn (2012-09-07). "The Queen of Versailles (PG)". The Independent. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  16. ^ Sara K. Clarke and Scott Powers (2012-10-09). "Time-share mogul tells employees to vote for Romney -- to save their jobs". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  17. ^ Leonard Greene (2012-07-18). "Fallen biz king & queen try to unload Fla. 'Versailles'". New York Post. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  18. ^ Greenfield, Lauren (Director) (2012). The Queen of Versailles (motion picture). Event occurs at 9:20.
  19. ^ Berfield, Susan (3 August 2012). "Why Time-Share King David Siegel Thinks He Got Bush Elected". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  20. ^ Susan Berfield (2012-10-10). "Why David Siegel Told His Employees to Vote for Romney". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  21. ^ a b "Dawn Georgette Myers v. Central Florida Investments, Inc., David Siegel, et al" (PDF). United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. 2010-01-06. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  22. ^ Businessweek.com

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