DavidNeelemanwasborninOctober1959inSaoPaulo,BrazilwherehisfatherwasontemporaryassignmentastheLatinAmericabureauchiefforUnitedPressInternational.DavidwasfiveyearsoldwhenhisfamilyreturnedtotheirhomeinSaltLakeCity,Utah.Bythisstage,heactuallyspokePortugesebetterthanEnglish,andgettingbackintoschoolwasachallenge,heightenedbythefactDavidhadaninabilitytofocusandaveryshortattentionspan.
Bytheageofnine,Davidwasworkingpart-timeinhisgrandfather'sconveniencestore.Herehelearnedtheimportanceofkeepingcustomershappybyprovidingthemthebestproductpossible.Infact,hisgrandfatherwassodedicatedtokeepingthecustomerhappythatifacustomeraskedforsomethinghedidn'tstock,hisgrandfatherwouldstallthecustomerwithadoughnutandacupofcoffeewhileDavidwouldboltoutthebackdoortothelocalSafewaystoretobuyandthenbringbacktheneededitems.HisgrandfatherinstilledinDavidtheconceptthatyoushouldnever,everdisappointacustomer.
Inadditiontohavingashortattentionspan,DavidNeelemanwasalsohyperactive.OngraduatingfromHighSchoolin1977,hedecidedtogototheUniversityofUtahtostudyaccounting.Healsocontinuedworkingpart-timeandtookonthejobasmanageroftheschool'sbasketballteam.Thisdidn'tlasttoolong,however,becausewhenheturned19,DaviddecidedtoservefortwoyearsasamissionaryfortheChurchofJesusChristofLatter-DaySaintsorMormonChurch.HewasassignedtogobacktoBrazil.
Onreturningfromhismission,DavidNeelemanreenrolledattheUniversityofUtahin1980.Duringhissophomoreyear,someoneinDavid'saccountingclassmentionedthathermotherknewsomeoneinHawaiiwhowashavingtroublesellingtime-sharesinahotelwhichhadbeenconvertedintocondominiums.Neelemancalledthecondoowner,andofferedtopayhim$125foreachweekhecouldn'trentthem.Theowneragreed,soNeelemanstartedadvertisingtheseunitsinalocalnewspaper.Itturnedouttobeagreatbusinessbecausehewassooncollecting$500aweekforeachcondoherentedout.Davidalsodecidedhemightaswellhandlethetravelaswell,sohestartedhisowntravelagencytobuydiscountticketstoHawaii.
Byhisjunioryearatcollege,Neeleman'stravelagencyhad20employeesand$8millioninannualsales.Despitehisparent'sreservations,hedecidedtodropoutofcollegetorunhisbusinessfull-time.Then,inlate-1983,oneoftheairlinesNeelemanwasusing,HawaiiExpress,wentoutofbusiness,takingwithitallthemoneyNeelemanhadpaidinadvancetogetcheaperseats.Despitethefactthetravelagencywasdebt-free,thelossoftheadvancemoneywasdevastatingandNeeleman'stravelagencywasmadebankrupt.DavidNeelemanwasnow24yearsold.