Reginald F. Lewis (December 7, 1942 – January 19, 1993), was an American businessman. He was one of the richest
black American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
men in the 1980s, and the first
black American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
to build a billion-dollar company, TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc.
In 1993, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' listed Lewis among the 400 richest Americans, with a
net worth
Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...
estimated at $400 million dollars.
Biography
Early life
Born in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Lewis grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. He won a football scholarship to
Virginia State University (VSU) and joined the Alpha Phi Chapter of
Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...
while an undergraduate student.
After graduating from VSU with a degree in political science in 1965, he took part in a summer program at Harvard set up by the Rockefeller Foundation that introduced African Americans to the study of law. While there, he made such an impression that Harvard invited him to attend school that fall. At the time, this made him the only person in the 148 year history of
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
to be accepted before even applying. He completed his
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree there in 1968.
Career
Recruited to top New York law firm
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul, Weiss) is an American multinational law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. By profits per equity partner, it is the fifth most profitable law firm in the world. ...
immediately after law school, Lewis left to start his own firm two years later. After 15 years as a corporate lawyer with his own practice, he moved to the other side of the table by creating TLC Group L.P., a
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
firm, in 1983.
His first major deal was the purchase of the McCall Pattern Company, a home sewing pattern business, for $22.5 million. Lewis had learned from a
''Fortune'' magazine article that the
Esmark Esmark is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Birgitte Esmark (1841–1897), Norwegian malacologist
*Jens Esmark (1763–1839), Danish-Norwegian mineralogist, study of glaciers
* Lars Mathias Hille Esmark (1908–1998), Norwegian ...
holding company, which had recently purchased
Norton Simon
Norton Winfred Simon (February 5, 1907 – June 2, 1993) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was at one time one of the wealthiest men in America. At the time of his death, he had amassed a net worth of nearly US$10 billion.
S ...
, planned to divest from the
McCall Pattern Company, a maker of home sewing patterns founded in 1870. With fewer and fewer people sewing at home, McCall was seemingly on the decline—though it had posted profits of $6 million in 1983 on sales of $51.9 million. At the time, McCall was number two in its industry, holding 29.7 percent of the market, compared to industry leader
Simplicity Pattern The Simplicity Pattern Company is a manufacturer of sewing pattern guides, under the "Simplicity Pattern", "It's So Easy" and "New Look" brands. The company was founded in 1927 in New York City. During the Great Depression, Simplicity allowed home s ...
s with 39.4 percent.
He managed to negotiate the price down, then raised $1 million himself from family and friends and borrowed the rest from institutional investors and investment banking firm
First Boston Corp : ''For the company after its acquisition by Credit Suisse, see Credit Suisse First Boston (known as CSFB and CS First Boston)''
The First Boston Corporation was a New York-based bulge bracket investment bank, founded in 1932 and acquired by Credi ...
.
Within a year, he turned the company around by freeing up capital tied in fixed assets such as building and machinery, and finding a new use for machinery during downtime by manufacturing greeting cards. He then started to recruit managers from rival companies. He further strengthened McCall by containing costs, improving quality, beginning to export to China, and emphasizing new product introductions. This new combination led to the company's most profitable year in its history. With the addition of McCall real estate worth an estimated $6 million that the company retained ownership of, he later sold McCall at a 90-1 return, resulting in a tremendous profit for investors. Lewis's share was 81.7 percent of the $90 million.
In 1987, Lewis bought
Beatrice International Foods from Beatrice Companies for $985 million, renaming it TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc., a snack food, beverage, and grocery store conglomerate that was the largest African-American owned and managed business in the U.S. The deal was partly financed through Mike Milken of the maverick investment bank
Drexel Burnham Lambert
Drexel Burnham Lambert was an American multinational investment bank that was forced into bankruptcy in 1990 due to its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by senior executive Michael Milken. At its height, it was a ...
. In order to reduce the amount needed to finance the
leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loan ...
, Lewis came up with a plan to sell off some of the division's assets simultaneous with the takeover.
When TLC Beatrice reported revenue of $1.8 billion in 1987, it became the first black-owned company to have more than $1 billion in annual sales. At its peak in 1996, TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc. had sales of $2.2 billion and was number 512 on ''Fortune'' magazine's list of 1,000 largest companies.
Philanthropy
In 1987 Lewis established the Reginald F. Lewis Foundation, which funded grants of approximately $10 million to various non-profit programs and organizations while he was alive. His first major grant was an unsolicited $1 million to
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
in 1988; the federal government matched the grant, making the gift $2 million, which was used to fund an endowment for scholarships, fellowships, and faculty sabbaticals.
In 1992, Lewis donated $3 million to
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
, the largest grant at the time in the school's history. The school renamed its International Law Center the Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center, the first major facility at Harvard named in honor of an African American.
While alive, Lewis made known his desire to support a museum of African American culture. In 2005, the
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture opened in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
with the support of a $5 million grant from his foundation. It is the East Coast's largest African American museum occupying an 82,000 square-foot facility with permanent and special exhibition space, interactive learning environments, auditorium, resource center, oral history recording studio, museum shop, café, classrooms, meeting rooms, outside terrace and reception areas. It highlights the history and accomplishments of African Americans with a special focus on
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
's African American community. The museum is also a
Smithsonian affiliate.
Lewis was counsel to the New York-based Commission for Racial Injustice.
Death
Lewis died at age 50, from
brain cancer
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...
. His wife,
Loida Nicolas Lewis
Loida Nicolas Lewis (born 1942) is a Filipino-born American businesswoman who is the widow of TLC Beatrice founder and CEO Reginald Lewis. She currently resides in New York City.
Early life and education
Lewis was born and raised in Sorsogon, ...
took over the company a year after his death.
Personal life
Lewis was married to
Loida Nicolas Lewis
Loida Nicolas Lewis (born 1942) is a Filipino-born American businesswoman who is the widow of TLC Beatrice founder and CEO Reginald Lewis. She currently resides in New York City.
Early life and education
Lewis was born and raised in Sorsogon, ...
, a
Filipina
Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...
lawyer. They had two daughters, Leslie and
Christina. Lewis was
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
A PBS documentary aired in February 2018 and chronicled the life of Lewi
References
External links
Reginald F. Lewis official websiteReginald F. Lewis Museum of African American Culture & HistoryReginald F. Lewis Fellowship - HarvardThe Lewis CollegeReginald F. Lewis High School - BaltimoreReginald F. Lewis Fan Club
Articles
Reg Lewis, TLC Beatrice internationalOften Saidhttp://articles.latimes.com/1989-09-13/business/fi-2062_1_mccall-pattern
Books
Amazon.com: Books: "Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?": How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion-Dollar Business Empire* https://www.amazon.com/America-Wrong-Donald-L-Barlett/dp/0836270010/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347210532&sr=1-1&keywords=america+what+went+wrong
* Amazon.com: Books: Reginald F. Lewis Before TLC Beatrice: The Young Man Before The Billion-Dollar Empire, by Lin Hart https://www.amazon.com/Reginald-Lewis-Before-Beatrice-Billion-Dollar/dp/0985347929/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452631776&sr=8-1&keywords=Reginald+F.+Lewis+Before+TLC+Beatrice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Reginald
1942 births
1993 deaths
African-American businesspeople
American chief executives of food industry companies
African-American lawyers
African-American non-fiction writers
American businesspeople in retailing
American business writers
American financiers
American grocers
American manufacturing businesspeople
American real estate businesspeople
Businesspeople from Maryland
American drink industry businesspeople
Deaths from brain cancer in the United States
Harvard Law School alumni
Maryland lawyers
Businesspeople from Baltimore
Virginia State University alumni
Virginia State Trojans football players
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American businesspeople
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century African-American writers
African-American Catholics