Lewis, 5. 0, Is Dead - Financier Led Beatrice Takeover. Reginald F. Lewis, a Wall Street lawyer and financier who was one of the nation's richest businessmen and a prominent corporate takeover dealer, died yesterday in Manhattan, one day after his company announced he was suffering from brain cancer. He was 5. 0 and lived in Manhattan and Paris. Lewis died from a cerebral hemorrhage related to the cancer, his company said. Lewis, whose $1 billion acquisition in 1. Beatrice Companies, a foods concern, led to the formation of his own company, TLC Beatrice International, had amassed personal assets of $4. Fortune magazine.
By acquiring the Beatrice operations, TLC, which stands for The Lewis Company, became the largest company in the country run by a black person. Lewis rejected notions that he should be viewed as an important figure because of his race. Lewis said in an interview shortly after the acquisition of Beatrice. But to dwell on race - - to see that as something that becomes part of my persona - - is a mistake, and I do everything I can to discourage it. Lewis became deeply involved in philanthropy, donating millions of dollars each year to a number of institutions, from homeless shelters and neighborhood churches. Last year, his $3 million donation to the Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1. Building on Success.
Mr. Lewis's business career was highlighted by two major deals. The first, in 1. 98. Mc. Call Pattern Company. With $1 million he had saved from his dealings as a corporate lawyer, he led a $2. Four years later, after restoring the ailing company to financial health, Mr.
Lewis sold Mc. Call to the John Crowther Group of Britain for $6. The Beatrice Companies placed for sale its international operations, which included an amalgam of 6.
Spain to an ice cream maker in Germany. Lewis, with the help of Drexel Burnham Lambert, put together the financing to buy the operations for $9. Lewis worked rapidly to sell less profitable operations to reduce debt, including former Beatrice businesses in Canada, Australia and many in Asia. Many expected that he would use his new- found leverage in the investment and financial community to pull off yet another giant acquisition. Lewis settled comfortably into the role of manager, while keeping his eye open for potential deals. The most notable was an attempt to take the company public in a stock offering in 1.
In the end, it was an offer too good to refuse for iiNet founder Michael Malone. On Monday he joined the vast majority of other shareholders in backing the $1.56. Obama Administration Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships, Eboo Patel. If you were on the FBI team vetting Presidential appointees, would you.
That effort was aborted as much by the skittishness the market at the time as by the perception of Mr. Lewis as a profiteer with little interest in running the company. Working Hard and Saving. That was a reputation he worked to dispel by spending more time managing the operations of the largely European company, rather than leaving the details to subordinates. Lewis was born into a middle- class family in Baltimore in 1.
His father was a postal worker and his mother a teacher. He once said that he began selling newspapers when he was 9 years old, earning about $2. After graduating in 1. New York law firm of Paul Weiss Rifkin Wharton & Garrison. In the early 1. 97. Lewis & Clarkson, which specialized in venture capital projects. Lewis was athletically built and was an avid tennis player.
His trademark was an imported cigar that always seemed perched in his mouth. After studying the language, he occasionally conducted business meetings in French. He was an avid patron of the arts, having acquired a sizable collection of paintings by Picasso, Matisse and others. Lewis was said by associates and friends to have been in good health until two months ago, when he was diagnosed as having brain cancer.
Lewis, a Wall Street lawyer and financier who was one of the nation's richest businessmen and a prominent corporate takeover dealer, died. How to survive the deflation economy and Greater Depression crash. Important info from Delwyn Lounsbury the Deflation Guru on hyperdeflation. Corporate LiveWire provides business professionals and individuals in the corporate finance sector with information on the latest news and developments from around.
Lewis worked feverishly to complete plans for passing on executive responsibility for his company to others and spending time with his wife and two daughters. Jesse Jackson, a friend of Mr. Lewis had structured a transition plan that would transfer the responsibility of running the company to his half- brother, Jean S.
Fugett, a 4. 1- year- old former professional football player who is now practicing law in Baltimore. Lewis considered his contributions to educational institutions to be his most important legacy.
In the last few years, he gave vast sums to several schools, including Virginia State and Howard universities. In New York, he gave large contributions to Abyssinian Baptist Church and the scholarship foundation of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, of which he was a member. Lewis was a member of the boards of WNET in New York and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
He was also a member of the Business Roundtable and the Economic Advisory Committee of New York City. Dinkins had nominated him to be a member of the city's Municipal Assistance Corporation. Lewis is survived by his wife, the former Loida Nicolas, two daughters, Leslie and Christina; his mother, Carolyn C. Fugett, and stepfather, Jean S. Fugett, both of Baltimore; two other half- brothers, Joseph M.
Fugett of New York City and Anthony S. Fugett of Baltimore, and two half- sisters, Rosalyn Fugett Wiley and Sharon M. Fugett, both of Baltimore.