David A. Siegel Net Worth

What was David A. Siegel's Net Worth?

David. A. Siegel was an American entrepreneur who had a net worth of $500 million. David A. Siegel was best known as the founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, one of the largest privately owned timeshare companies in the world. After beginning his career as a real estate agent in the 1970s, Siegel pivoted to timeshare development, founding Westgate Resorts in 1982.

Under his leadership, Westgate expanded from a single property in Orlando to a vast portfolio of over 25 resorts across the United States. Siegel built his empire by targeting middle-class consumers with affordable vacation ownership opportunities, pioneering many modern timeshare marketing techniques.

Beyond timeshare development, Siegel diversified into other business ventures, including real estate, construction, hotel management, travel services, and retail. His high-profile status increased dramatically following his appearance in the 2012 documentary "The Queen of Versailles," which chronicled his family's attempt to build one of America's largest private residences during the financial crisis.

Despite facing significant challenges during the 2008 recession, Siegel managed to rebuild his company. His career has been characterized by entrepreneurial resilience, aggressive growth strategies, and occasional controversy regarding business practices.

Early Life

David A. Siegel was born on May 3, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of Sadelle and Sid Siegel, a grocer who moved the family and their grocery business to Miami when David was ten years old. Siegel graduated from Miami Senior High School in 1935 and studied management and marketing at the University of Miami. He did not end up graduating.

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Career

Siegel was one of the founders of Mystery Fun House, an Orlando attraction that opened on March 29, 1976, and operated until 2001. He also produced the movie "Night Terror" in 2002.

He founded the successful timeshare company Westgate Resorts, Ltd., and currently serves as the company's President and Chief Executive Officer.

In addition to his work with Westgate, he is also the CEO of Central Florida Investments, Inc. and Central Florida Investments Resorts Management, Inc. His investment company has interests in travel services, transportation, retail, telecommunications, and construction.

At his absolute peak in the period of 2004-2007, David Siegel's paper net worth was roughly $1 billion. The 2008 financial crisis severely impacted his various business ventures. In 2012, he made headlines when he sent an email to all of his employees in which he threatened to fire them if President Obama was re-elected. He did not follow through on that threat. In 2015, he appeared on the ABC reality series "Celebrity Wife Swap," on which he traded lives with actor Jeremy London.

"The Queen of Versailles"

Siegel and his wife Jackie are the subjects of Lauren Greenfield's award-winning documentary, "The Queen of Versailles." The film showed the family as they attempted to build the Versailles house, one of the largest and most expensive single-family homes in the United States. The documentary also chronicles the crises they faced as the U.S. economy tanked and the family's struggles to sell various expensive personal assets to save their lives and company from a mountain of debt. The movie shows Siegel trying and failing to retain ownership of Westgate's Las Vegas high-rise resort, the PH Towers Westgate. The Siegels filed two lawsuits against the filmmakers of the documentary but subsequently lost both.

Versailles Mansion

As chronicled in the documentary, David and Jackie are perhaps best known, and somewhat infamous, for spending the last two decades building an over-the-top, opulent mansion in Windermere, Florida, modeled after the Palace of Versailles. It is one of the most notorious examples of American excess in residential architecture. Planning for the home began in 2004, at which point David's timeshare business empire was booming, and his paper net worth was close to billionaire status. David's dream was to build the largest single-family home in America. The end result was a 90,000-square-foot estate. Primary construction began in 2006.

With 14 bedrooms, 32 bathrooms, 11 kitchens, a roller rink, an ice skating rink, a bowling alley, a 30-car garage, three levels, three indoor pools, two outdoor pools, two tennis courts, a baseball diamond, a fitness center with 10,000 square foot spa, two-story movie theater and much more, the project captured imaginations and ignited controversy. Just as the dream seemed to reach its gilded peak, the 2008 financial crisis brought a harsh reality check. David's net worth teetered on insolvency as his timeshare customers fled in droves. Construction froze, leaving the unfinished Versailles a skeletal testament to dashed aspirations. This period of uncertainty for the Siegel family and their unfinished dream home was captured in the 2012 documentary "The Queen of Versailles." After several frozen years, the Siegels' finances improved, and construction started again, with Jackie leading the project. The Versailles house has been under construction for over 20 years.

NYC Penthouse

In 2023, Jackie and David paid $8.7 million for a duplex in NYC's Tribeca neighborhood. In January 2024, they listed this unit for sale for $19.5 million.

(Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)

Personal Life

Siegel has nine biological children and two adopted children. He married Geraldine Florence Sanstrom in 1961, and they were married until 1969. David was married to Bettie Tucker from 1970 to 1997. He remained the custodial parent of all the children. He met his third wife, Jackie Siegel, in 1998, and they married in a Jewish ceremony in 2000. In June 2015, the Siegels' 18-year-old daughter, Victoria Siegel, was found unresponsive at their home in Windermere. After she was taken to a hospital, she was pronounced dead. Her cause of death was ruled a drug overdose, thus motivating David to advocate strongly against drug abuse.

In 2008, David Siegel was found liable in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Dawn Myers, a former Westgate employee. After a trial in Florida, the jury awarded her $5.4 million, but a judge reduced the award to just $610,000. In the trial award, Myers was given $103,622 in compensatory damages and $506,847 in punitive damages arising from her battery claim under state law.

Following Victoria's death, David and Jackie founded the Victoria's Voice Foundation, dedicated to drug abuse prevention and awareness. Their efforts contributed to the passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act in 2016 and the establishment of National Naloxone Awareness Day on June 6. The foundation reports having reached over a million families with educational programming.

In 2019, Jackie published "Victoria's Voice," a book based on her daughter's diary, to help raise awareness about teen addiction and mental health.

(Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Westgate Las Vegas Resorts)

Death

David A. Siegel died on April 5, 2025, at the age of 89. No cause of death was officially released, though the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported he had been battling cancer.

He passed away surrounded by family at his Florida home. Tributes poured in from business partners and public officials, many highlighting his work in addiction awareness and philanthropy.

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