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

Seigel said he bought back his own $11 million loan from his bank for $3.2 million through a third party. .

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.

Siegel campaigned for George W. Bush in 2000. Siegel admitted in the documentary The Queen of Versailles to engaging in possibly illegal activities in Florida during the 2000 United States elections, which he claims were singularly responsible for getting George W. Bush into the White House.

Seigel later added:

"Whenever I saw a negative article about 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 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."

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.

Siegel was found guilty of sexual harassment in a lawsuit brought by former Westgate employee Georgette Meyers. Meyers worked for Westgate for 14 years. She claimed that Siegel offered a million dollars to have sex with her. Meyers claimed that she had to repeatedly fight off unwanted advances from Siegel, and a Florida court awarded Meyers $5.4 million in damages in February 2008. . According to Westgate, "His attorney said they would file motions to have the verdict set aside, and if necessary, appeal."

Siegel studied marketing and management at the University of Miami.

See also

• Versailles house

References

1. Reuters
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Berfield, Susan. "Why Time-Share King David Siegel Thinks He Got Bush Elected". Business Weed. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
5. Business Week
6. "Woman Talks After Winning $5 Million In Lawsuit Over 'Indecent Proposal'". WFTV. Orlando, Florida: Cox Enterprises. February 21, 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
7. Orlando billionaire David Siegel must pay woman $5.4 million in sexual-harassment case 22 Feb 2008
8. Businessweek.com

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• Living people
• University of Miami alumni
• American businesspeople