Simon, William Edward

▪ 2001

      American investment banker and government official (b. Nov. 27, 1927, Paterson, N.J.—d. June 3, 2000, Santa Barbara, Calif.), served as U.S. treasury secretary during the administrations of presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Simon was a partner at the investment firm of Salomon Brothers when Nixon appointed him head of the Federal Energy Office in 1973; as “energy czar,” Simon was credited with easing public fears during the Arab oil embargo of the early 1970s. He was later named treasury secretary under Nixon and retained the post for the duration of the Ford administration, returning to Wall Street in 1977. During the 1980s Simon formed his own investment firm and pioneered the “leveraged buyout”—the strategy of borrowing money to buy undervalued companies and then selling them for a profit. He also served (1980–84) as president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, leading efforts to raise the $90 million in funds necessary to stage the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. In 1991 Simon was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

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