- Mr. Simonds a Yale graduate from an excellent family and currently a family man with accomplishments in film industry in the USA
- In no way one can find any financial difficulties in Mr. Simonds personal life nor his companies
- Suddenly around 2023(?) Mr. Simonds decides to acquire the infamous criminal Commercial Spyware organization called NSO Group for substantial sums of money!!
- Mr. Simonds not known, at least by Justice Node having any ties to Israel or Zionism or US intelligence agencies, anything sinister of the kind!?
- Mr. Simonds is a person of interest to better understand the secretive inner workings of the NSO Group. Otherwise, there are no reasons why Justice Node should be concerned about such a fortunate respectable man!
An unlikely cast of characters including a Hollywood producer and the heir to the Wrigley chewing gum fortune are exploring a possible bid to take control of assets owned by NSO Group, the Israeli company behind one of the world’s most sophisticated cyber-weapons.
Robert Simonds, a US financier whose credits include producing several Adam Sandler films, has been engaged in talks to acquire the blacklisted spyware company’s assets, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
A firm owned by Simonds’s friend, William “Beau” Wrigley – who was an heir to his family’s chewing gum fortune and has since become involved in the cannabis industry – has conducted due diligence in connection to a possible NSO deal, according to a document seen by the Guardian.
NSO, which is closely regulated by Israel’s ministry of defence, sells its spyware to government clients around the world. It has faced intense scrutiny in the US, where the Biden administration in 2021 took the extraordinary step of placing the company on a blacklist and accused it of selling software tools that “enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression”.
The Guardian reported in March that one of the company’s original founders – Omri Lavie – emerged as NSO’s new majority owner following a protracted legal fight over the group’s future. Simonds then joined the board of Lavie’s Luxembourg-based company, called Dufresne, shortly thereafter with the support of the company’s remaining debt holders. One possible option being mulled by Simonds, sources suggest, would involve buying out remaining debt holders and other creditors and stripping assets like Pegasus – NSO’s key hacking tool – out of NSO and transferring it into a new company. Simonds did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
Simonds is not a known figure in the cyber industry.
Former Trump official named NSO Group executive chairman
Update 2025
A former Trump official has been tapped to help lead spyware maker NSO Group, which was recently acquired by new owners.
David Friedman, who was ambassador to Israel in Trump’s first administration, has been appointed to the role of executive chairman of NSO Group, which is now reportedly owned by a group of outside investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds. Friedman also reportedly once worked as Trump’s bankruptcy lawyer.
NSO Group announced Friedman’s appointment on Sunday, saying that NSO’s three founders no longer have any stake in the firm.
TO BE CONTINUED …