The billionaire owner of the iconic Westgate Resorts hotel and timeshare chain has died at the age of 89.

David Siegel passed away on Saturday morning surrounded by his family and friends, his company announced.

No cause of death was given, but the Las Vegas Journal-Review reports that he had been battling cancer.

Siegel is survived by his model and socialite wife Jackie, his nine children, two step-children and 12 grandchildren.

The couples businessman lived in a $100 million Windermere mansion dubbed the ‘Palace of Versailles’.

‘David’s spirit lives on in the thousands of lives he touched, via the jobs his companies created, the hospitality he enabled, the charities and communities he supported,’ his family wrote in a statement. 

‘David’s energy and caring extended well beyond his business enterprises.’

Siegel was the owner of 22 resorts across the US, including the famous Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino.

David Siegel, the founder of timeshare company Westgate Resorts, died on Saturday at 89 years old

He passed away on Saturday morning surrounded by his family and friends, his company announced

Siegel and his wife set up home in this $100 million mansion inn Windermere, Florida

He founded the company in his garage in 1982, before opening his first hotel on an orange grove he already owned in Kissimmee, Florida the same year.

Today, the firm oversees more than 13,500 rooms and more than 330,000 owner families across the country. 

‘David’s vision to create high quality, yet accessible hospitality began in his garage and grew into what is now Central Florida Investments & Westgate Resorts, one of the largest private hospitality companies in the United States,’ Westgate Resorts wrote.  

Siegel was also the former owner of the Orlando Predators football team and had a net worth of nearly $6.67 billion when he died.

He and his wife built a 90,000 square foot home in Windermere, Florida, famously known as the Palace of Versailles for its opulence.

Jackie became known as the Queen of Versailles when a 2012 documentary called of the same name detailed her family’s life during the mansion’s construction. 

But the family’s world was turned upside down by the death of Siegel’s oldest daughter Victoria from an overdose in 2015.

Her parents said she was struggling with constant pressure of being followed by a camera.

Siegel told the Los Vegas Review in 2019: ‘She was embarrassed by [the movie], and she was also going through a kind of a bad period in her life, weight-wise.

Siegel is survived by his wife Jackie, his nine children, two step-children and 12 grandchildren

Siegel founded his company in his garage in 1982, before opening his first hotel on an orange grove he already owned in Kissimmee, Florida the same year. Pictured with wife Jackie

 ‘Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong.’ 

‘In her diary, she said the worst thing that had happened to her was the movie Queen of Versailles,’ Jackie added.

‘I just wish that she would have been open with us instead of keeping it all in her diary. I wish she would have leaned on my shoulder and opened her heart with all her internal struggles.’ 

Outside of his business achievements, he was well known for his drug abuse prevention and awareness activism following Victoria’s death.

Siegel and his wife Jackie started the Victoria’s Voice Foundation in 2019 and have so far helped more than a million parents and children through its educational programs, according to a 2023 press release. 

Victoria’s Voice wrote: ‘There is never an easy way to say goodbye to someone so beloved by so many but our hearts are full knowing he is at peace with Victoria now.’ 

In 2016, Siegel and his wife battled hard to bring in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), the first major addiction law America had seen in over 40 years.

In 2019, Jackie published her daughter’s diary in a book titled Victoria’s Voice: Our Daughter’s Losing Battle with Drug Abuse’ to highlight the struggles addiction. 

Aside from his successful business pursuits, Siegel will be remembered for his tireless efforts as a drug abuse prevention and awareness advocate following the overdose death of his oldest daughter

Siegel was an avid proponent of Naloxone awareness and education, saving ‘thousands of lives’ in his work, according to Sheriff John Mina 

Siegel married his model wife Jackie in 2000 after two previous marriages 

‘Right after Victoria passed away, Jackie received a text from one of Victoria’s friends directing her to look in her bedroom nightstand for a secret diary she had kept – and suggesting they publish it,’ the book’s Amazon description reads. 

‘Victoria’s Voice is a gripping peek inside the mind of sometimes happy, healthy teen and other times a teen dramatically influenced by drugs and alcohol. This is Victoria’s Voice – from beyond the grave. It could save your child’s life.’ 

In 2023, the determined couple successfully campaigned for June 6 to be designated as National Naloxone Awareness Day, as ‘a fitting tribute to mark the day of Victoria’s passing eight years earlier,’ according to their foundation.

Naloxone is a medicine that can be used in emergency situations to treat opioid overdoses, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Common brands of the drug include Narcan and Evzio. 

‘David’s vision to create high quality, yet accessible hospitality began in his garage and grew into what is now Central Florida Investments & Westgate Resorts, one of the largest private hospitality companies in the United States,’ the Siegels wrote in a statement. 

‘Most recently with David’s blessing and wisdom, Westgate announced the largest geographic expansion in our company’s history. David was focused on work all the way until the end,’ the Siegel family explained.  

Siegel’s death had prompted a wave of tributes from friends and colleagues. 

‘I admire his humbleness and kindness whenever he was in that point of his life,’ David’s friend Pete Crotty wrote.

Siegel’s oldest daughter Victoria died of a drug overdose in 2015 

Her mom Queen of Versailles star Jackie Siegel published the diary of her 18-year-old daughter Victoria following her death

Victoria’s Voice Foundation was established in honor of his oldest daughter, Victoria 

David’s friend, Pete Crotty, said the businessman was humble and became a voice for parents who lost their children to drug overdoses

Siegel was the owner of 22 resorts across the US, including the famous Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino

‘He became the voice of so many of us who have lost children to the disease of addiction.’ 

‘Not only was he an incredible entrepreneur and businessman, but his advocacy work following the tragic loss of his daughter, Victoria, to an overdose has profoundly changed the landscape of addiction awareness and treatment,’ Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma wrote. 

‘David’s tireless efforts were instrumental in promoting the use of the life-saving drug Narcan among first responders, including our agency.’ 

Orange County Sheriff John Mina also took to social media to thank David for supporting local law enforcement.

‘His passion to end the Opioid Epidemic has saved thousands of lives. He will truly be missed,’ Mina shared.   

The Siegel family is asking for donations to the Victoria’s Voice Foundation to honor David’s legacy.