David Simoné, born in London, England, is a founder and principal of DSW Entertainment, which works in a broad spectrum of the entertainment business, including artist management, music publishing, recorded music, and television and film production. Originally a UK lawyer, he entered the entertainment business with independent UK label Gem Records, became head of business affairs at Arista Records, and was named president of Arista Records UK at age 29. At Arista he worked with artists including Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Secret Affair, the Thompson Twins, the Stray Cats, and Barry Manilow. Subsequently, as President of Mercury Records UK, Simoné worked closely with Tears For Fears, Dire Straits, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Metallica, and Elton John. He signed Bob Geldof as a solo artist and gave him office space to organize Live Aid. Later he became chairman of MCA UK. Upon moving to the US, he was asked by MCA to start a label, Uni Records. There he signed, among other artists, Steve Earle and Erik B and Rakim and Walk On Fire. He has also been Senior VP of Business Affairs for Capitol Records.Later, as president of Polygram Publishing, Simoné acquired songs and catalogues of artists including Bon Jovi, U2, Elton John, Bob Marley, Carly Simon, Joan Osbourne, and Desmond Child. As head of A&R at Geffen Records he worked with Peter Gabriel, Counting Crows, Courtney Love, Axl Rose, Rob Zombie, and Bec