Jon R. Simon, has a long and accomplished background in the hotel and vacation ownership industries where he has advised some of the largest U.S. investment funds, hospitality and gaming companies and high net worth individuals.

Mr. Simon started his career at KPMG where he was elected to the partnership at the age of 31, making him the youngest full equity partner in the United States. At KPMG he headed the firm’s hospitality and real estate consulting practice for the Southeast US, Latin America and the Caribbean focusing on hotels, mixed use resorts and shared ownership. He also served as a national acquisitions partner serving senior roles in some of the largest hospitality industry acquisitions.

In 1997, Mr. Simon was recruited by Starwood Capital to be CEO of WorldStar Resorts, a hospitality investment company dedicated to the Vacation Ownership Industry. In that capacity, Mr. Simon quickly grew the company from a start-up to over $100 million in annual revenues and 250 employees by the end of its first full year of operations.

After leaving Starwood, Mr. Simon was one of the 5 founding principals of a late stage private equity fund oriented to the hospitality industry where he also assumed the role of Chief Investment Officer. In his first full year, Mr. Simon oversaw the underwriting and closing of over $200 million of direct investments, representing over $600 million of asset value.

Mr. Simon graduated from the University of Florida, Magna Cum Laude, with a degree in Quantitative Methods for Business from the School of Finance in the College of Business. He was previously or is currently a member of the Urban Land Institute, the American Hotel and Motel Association, American Resort Development Association, where he was a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Finance Committee. He is a Founder and Young President of Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida. Mr. Simon is a regular speaker at the NYU Hotel Industry Conference and the American Lodging Investment Summit based in California. He has authored numerous articles on the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, and recently published an article on the vacation ownership industry for Institutional Investor.