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Westgate Resorts founder David Siegel tied the knot for the first time in March 1961, with Geraldine Florence Sanstrom.

The union bore three children, but ended in 1968.

David Siegel met Jackie in 1998 and they have 8 children together

David Siegel met Jackie in 1998 and they have 8 children together (photo AP)

David Siegel married again in 1970, when he moved from Miami to Orlando with second wife Bettie.

Divorced for a second time in 1997, David Siegel met his current wife Jackie Siegel in 1998.

David Siegel, 79, and Jackie Siegel, 48, have 8 children together.

The entrepreneur’s businesses, family, and personal life were adversely affected by the 2008 financial crisis, as seen in the documentary The Queen of Versailles. The film shows Jackie Siegel, David Siegel and their family as they attempt to build the Versailles house, the largest and most expensive single-family house in the US, and the crisis they face as the US economy declines.

Jackie Siegel signed a development deal in March 2014 with NBCUniversal’s Wilshire Studios for a reality TV show.

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David Siegel’s Westgate Resorts announced last month that it has added 1,500 new positions in 2014.

According to a news release, 775 new positions were added in Central Florida.

David Siegel’s Westgate Resorts announced last month that it has added 1,500 new positions in 2014

David Siegel’s Westgate Resorts announced last month that it has added 1,500 new positions in 2014

A spokesman for the timeshare resort company, Frank Blanco, said the hiring represents actual growth in the full-time and part-time workforce and not just seasonal hiring. Frank Blanco said almost half the new positions, 673, are in sales and are based on commission.

“Our total employment currently stands at 8,236. Last year at this time, it was less than 7,000,” he said.

Among the new positions are 150 employees Westgate Resorts took on when it purchased the Cocoa Beach Pier recently, according to the news release.

David Siegel said in the release that Westgate Resorts was in the “best financial position it has ever been in its 44-year existence”.

David Siegel is the founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, a huge national timeshare company and one of the largest resort developers in the world.

In 2007 David Siegel was a billionaire, although he may be only a hundred-millionaire now.

David Siegel, 78 and his 47-year-old wife Jackie were the subjects of the recent documentary The Queen of Versailles, about their ongoing quest to build the largest house in America, a 90,000 square foot monument to excess.

Last year David Siegel sent an email to all of his thousands of employees, in which he—in a veiled way—insinuated that they would be fired of Barack Obama is reelected.

In fact it was a popular chain letter that was circulated just before the 2008 elections. Even David Siegel confirmed he used a chain letter which was adapted to fir his company. “I did use the letter that had circulated before as a guideline, but I changed it [to fit my circumstances],” he said.

“It speaks the truth and it gives [employees] something to think about when they go to the polls.”

David Siegel also said that its threats of possible layoffs are real, based on his assessment of the political and economic climate. He added that he “hasn’t had any negative feedback” on the letter.

The Florida-based Westgate Resorts is not a public company. It is the domain of David Siegel, a staunch Republican. In fact, David Siegel has publicly claimed credit for George W. Bush defeating Al Gore, saying: “I had my managers do a survey on every employee [8,000 total]. If they liked Bush, we made them register to vote. But not if they liked Gore.”

The Queen of Versailles documentary depicts the dashing of David Siegel’s mansion dreams after the recession hit. But just months before, he restarted construction on his personal Palace of Versailles (with the intention of selling it for $100 million) and told Reuters: “We’re the most profitable we’ve ever been.”

David Siegel and his wife Jackie were the subjects of the recent documentary The Queen of Versailles, about their ongoing quest to build the largest house in America

David Siegel and his wife Jackie were the subjects of the recent documentary The Queen of Versailles, about their ongoing quest to build the largest house in America

David Siegel’s amazing email sent to all Westgate employees:

Subject: Message from David Siegel
Date:Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:58:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: [David Siegel]
To: [All employees]

To All My Valued Employees,

As most of you know our company, Westgate Resorts, has continued to succeed in spite of a very dismal economy. There is no question that the economy has changed for the worse and we have not seen any improvement over the past four years. In spite of all of the challenges we have faced, the good news is this: The economy doesn’t currently pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is another 4 years of the same Presidential administration. Of course, as your employer, I can’t tell you whom to vote for, and I certainly wouldn’t interfere with your right to vote for whomever you choose. In fact, I encourage you to vote for whomever you think will serve your interests the best.

However, let me share a few facts that might help you decide what is in your best interest. The current administration and members of the press have perpetuated an environment that casts employers against employees. They want you to believe that we live in a class system where the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. They label us the “1%” and imply that we are somehow immune to the challenges that face our country. This could not be further from the truth. Sure, you may have heard about the big home that I’m building. I’m sure many people think that I live a privileged life. However, what you don’t see or hear is the true story behind any success that I have achieved.

I started this company over 42 years ago. At that time, I lived in a very modest home. I converted my garage into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you. We didn’t eat in fancy restaurants or take expensive vacations because every dollar I made went back into this company. I drove an old used car, and often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business — hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. Meanwhile, many of my friends got regular jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a nice income, and they spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into this business —-with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford to buy whatever I wanted. Even to this day, every dime I earn goes back into this company. Over the past four years I have had to stop building my dream house, cut back on all of my expenses, and take my kids out of private schools simply to keep this company strong and to keep you employed.

Just think about this – most of you arrive at work in the morning and leave that afternoon and the rest of your time is yours to do as you please. But not me- there is no “off” button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have that freedom. I eat, live, and breathe this company every minute of the day, every day of the week. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. I know many of you work hard and do a great job, but I’m the one who has to sign every check, pay every expense, and make sure that this company continues to succeed. Unfortunately, what most people see is the nice house and the lavish lifestyle. What the press certainly does not want you to see, is the true story of the hard work and sacrifices I’ve made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and people like me who made all the right decisions and invested in themselves are being forced to bail out all the people who didn’t. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed 42 years of my life for. Yes, business ownership has its benefits, but the price I’ve paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the costs of running a business have gotten out of control, and let me tell you why: We are being taxed to death and the government thinks we don’t pay enough. We pay state taxes, federal taxes, property taxes, sales and use taxes, payroll taxes, workers compensation taxes and unemployment taxes. I even have to hire an entire department to manage all these taxes. The question I have is this: Who is really stimulating the economy? Is it the Government that wants to take money from those who have earned it and give it to those who have not, or is it people like me who built a company out of his garage and directly employs over 7000 people and hosts over 3 million people per year with a great vacation?

Obviously, our present government believes that taking my money is the right economic stimulus for this country. The fact is, if I deducted 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, that’s what happens to me.

Here is what most people don’t understand and the press and our Government has chosen to ignore – to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Instead of raising my taxes and depositing that money into the Washington black-hole, let me spend it on growing the company, hire more employees, and generate substantial economic growth. My employees will enjoy the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But that is not what our current Government wants you to believe. They want you to believe that it somehow makes sense to take more from those who create wealth and give it to those who do not, and somehow our economy will improve. They don’t want you to know that the “1%”, as they like to label us, pay more than 31% of all the taxes in this country. Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said, “democracy” will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate business, not kill it. However, the power brokers in Washington believe redistributing wealth is the essential driver of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change they want.

So where am I going with all this? It’s quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. Rather than grow this company I will be forced to cut back. This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone.

So, when you make your decision to vote, ask yourself, which candidate understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn’t? Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of protecting and saving your job. While the media wants to tell you to believe the “1 percenters” are bad, I’m telling you they are not. They create most of the jobs. If you lose your job, it won’t be at the hands of the “1%”; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country.

You see, I can no longer support a system that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities. If that happens, you can find me in the Caribbean sitting on the beach, under a palm tree, retired, and with no employees to worry about.

Signed, your boss,

David Siegel

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Jackie Siegel, David Siegel’s wife who is better known as the much maligned subject of the riveting The Queen of Versailles documentary, has only one regret about her screen debut: she didn’t wear enough makeup.

Former Miss Florida Jackie Siegel, now 47, was captured on camera with her billionaire timeshare mogul husband trying to create the home of their dreams – a gaudy, over-the-top sprawling 90,000-square-foot mansion (the largest single family dwelling ever built in the U.S.) modeled on France’s 17th century Palace of Versailles.

And Jackie told TODAY show correspondent Janet Shamlian that she would have no hesitation in doing it all over again!

“What I would do different if I had known so many millions of people would be seeing it… is I would have worn more makeup,” Jackie Siegel explained.

Not surprisingly, the mother-of-eight from Windermere, Florida said she is hoping to land her own reality TV show once work on her humungous home is finally finished.

However, despite his larger-than-life wife’s penchant for starring in front of the camera, David Siegel, founder of Westgate Resorts, said he does not want to appear on TV.

Instead, David Siegel, 78, wants to finish construction on the mega-mansion that’s taken more than 5 years to build – following a financial crisis and recession that caused the project to be stalled and almost forced him into losing his business and title to the property – all of which ended up becoming the main focus of the documentary.

The property, 20 miles outside Orlando, will have a whopping 30 bedrooms and 23 bathrooms when completed and offer stunning views over Lake Butler.

David and Jackie Siegel were unhappy with the way they were portrayed in The Queen of Versailles documentary

David and Jackie Siegel were unhappy with the way they were portrayed in The Queen of Versailles documentary

All 23 bathrooms will have full-sized hot tubs, while the hand built windows cost more than $2 million. Bespoke materials have also been sourced from all over the world for the outrageous and overblown interior decor.

For the kids – a roller rink, children’s theater, bowling alley and three swimming pools are being created, while for the fitness-concerned two tennis courts will be installed.

Outside, there will be a large boat house, formal gardens, a one-story gatehouse, as well as an underground car park with space for 20 cars.

“We never sought out to build the biggest house in America. it’s just what kind of happened,” Jackie Siegel explained.

Now that the Siegels have taken the half-finished property off the market (they listed it for $65 million back in July last year) they are looking forward to completing the work.

“We’re finishing it to actually finish it. but we do want to live in there,” Jacqueline Siegel added.

As previously reported, David and Jacqueline Siegel were far from pleased with the way they were portrayed in the documentary, and accused the filmmakers of likening them to trashy reality TV stars.

In an official letter, obtained by RadarOnline.com to director Lauren Greenfield’s attorney, David Siegel claimed Jackie “didn’t hesitate to orchestrate unrealistic over-the-top scenes for entertainment purposes even when they vastly distorted day-to-day life. That’s why what you call a documentary, I call a Real Housewives Of Orlando pilot.”

The Queen of Versailles, grossed more than $2 million, and won several prestigious awards including the U.S. Directing Award at Sundance Film Festival.

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