Neal Simon

Neal Jerry Simon (born May 1, 1968) is a business executive and community leader in Potomac, Maryland.

Simon has led four businesses and has served on the boards of several leading Maryland non-profits.

In 1986, Simon graduated from George W. Hewlett High School, where he served as class president for three years.

Donald Simon was from Brooklyn, NY and is the son of immigrants from Belarus.

Simon's mother, Sylvia Abitbol, was born in Casablanca, Morocco.

In 1986, Simon began his studies at Brown University.

He also attended the Sorbonne (Universite de Paris) for the summer semester.

While at Brown University, Simon attended Tel Aviv University for the spring semester of his junior year, and he spent two summers working for Neuberger Berman in New York, NY.

In 1990, he graduated from Brown University with a BA cum laude in Applied Mathematics and Economics.

His senior thesis evaluated the impact on Palestinians of work in Israel.

Simon worked for William Kent International (WKI) from 1990 to 1993 and again from 1995 to 1999.

WKI specialized in helping large US corporations build their businesses overseas.

Simon's clients included Alcoa, Rockwell, Kennametal, and Rubbermaid.

During his time at WKI, he worked in over 30 countries and ultimately became the firm's COO.

Simon also served on the Board of the company's joint venture in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

During the summer of 1994, he worked for the World Bank in Washington, DC.

Between stints at William Kent International, Simon attended University of Chicago Graduate School of Business where in 1995 he received a Master of Business Administration high honors (top 5% of class).

Upon graduation, in recognition largely for his starting and running the business school's Public Service Fellowship program, Simon received the President's Award for Student Volunteer Service.

While at University of Chicago, Simon attended Universidad Catolica in Santiago, Chile, for one trimester.

In 1999, Simon left WKI to become chairman and CEO of USLaw, a national network of small law firms.

USLaw was financed with $15 million led by UBS Capital, and the website USLaw.com quickly became the leader for consumers and small businesses researching their legal issues.

The company gained notoriety for its offering online chats with attorneys.

At its peak in 2000, the company employed 96.

In November 2000, the company laid off 16 of its 96 people in a business restructuring.

In October 2000, Simon was recognized by Washington Business Forward as one of the top 40 business leaders under the age of 40 and in December 2000 he appeared on the cover of Money magazine.

In late 2001, in the midst of the bursting of the tech bubble, USLaw was sold to Grand Central Holdings in New York City.

After leaving USLaw in 2001, Simon joined the Meltzer Group as its president and COO.

In 2002, Simon started a registered investment advisor which four years later became Highline Wealth Management.

From 2006 to 2008, Simon was the chairman of the board of the Montgomery County Community Foundation and in 2016 Simon was elected chairman of the board of the Greater Washington Community Foundation.

By 2015, the company managed $1.5 billion and was one of the fifty largest registered investment advisers in the country.

On July 31, 2015, Highline was acquired by Bronfman Rothschild.

The Washington Post estimated the acquisition price at $30 million.

As part of the transaction, Bronfman Rothschild moved its headquarters to Rockville, Maryland, and Simon was hired as chief executive officer.

In April 2016, Simon and his family were recognized by Interfaith Works as Humanitarians of the Year.

In 2018, Simon ran as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maryland on a politically centrist platform.

Though he at one point polled as high as 18%, he ultimately earned less than 4% of the vote.

Simon is the author of Contract to Unite America: Ten Reforms to Reclaim Our Republic.

Simon was born in New York City, the middle child of Donald Simon and Sylvia Abitbol Simon.

At a young age, his family moved to North Woodmere, New York, while his father worked in equipment leasing and his mother worked as a school teacher then a travel agent.

He was the CEO of Bronfman Rothschild, which managed $6.1 billion, until its sale in May 2019.