Joe Lewis (businessman)
Joseph C. Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 5, 1937 Bow, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, investor |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Known for | Majority ownership of ENIC Group (1991–2022), chief investor of Tavistock Group |
Joseph C. Lewis (born 5 February 1937) is a British entrepreneur and investor, primarily active through his portfolio with the Tavistock Group. From 1991 until October 2022, he held majority ownership of ENIC Group, the entity controlling Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.[1] In October 2022, control was transferred to the Lewis Family Trust,[2] which is overseen by independent trustees for the benefit of its beneficiaries; Lewis himself is not among those beneficiaries.[3]
The Sunday Times Rich List for 2023 estimates Lewis's net worth at £5.096 billion, marking an increase of £811 million compared to the previous year.[4]
Early life
Lewis was born into a Jewish family residing above a public house on Roman Road in Bow, London. He left formal education at age 15 to support his father’s West End catering enterprise, Tavistock Banqueting. He grew the business by marketing luxury products to American visitors and owned the Hanover Grand club, where he gave Robert Earl one of his early jobs.[5] After selling this business in 1979, Lewis laid the foundation for his initial fortune.
Currency trading
Following the sale of the family enterprise in the late 1970s, Lewis ventured into currency trading throughout the 1980s and 1990s, which led him to move to the Bahamas as a tax exile. Notably, in September 1992, he famously wagered against the British pound during its withdrawal from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, an event referred to as Black Wednesday.
Tavistock Group
Lewis serves as the chief investor behind Tavistock Group, which holds ownership over more than 200 companies spread across 15 nations.
Property
From 2004 until 2013, Lewis organized the annual Tavistock Cup golf tournament in Florida, raising substantial funds for charitable causes. He possesses ownership stakes in three of the six clubs participating in the 2013 event: Albany, Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, and Isleworth Golf & Country Club. Albany is a high-end golf community developed by Lewis in the Bahamas that opened in October 2010 and serves as his residence. Prominent golfers Tiger Woods and Ernie Els are also significant shareholders in this New Providence-based resort. Furthermore, Lewis has committed £70 million toward property development projects in Bulgaria.
Lake Nona Medical City
Lewis contributed $100 million in capital and land to initiate Lake Nona, a sprawling 7,000-acre development located near Orlando International Airport. This initiative has grown into a comprehensive community featuring research institutions, educational facilities, hospitals dedicated to veterans and children, a central town area, along with various commercial and residential spaces.
Bear Stearns
On 10 September 2007, Lewis purchased a 7% equity stake in Bear Stearns for US$860.4 million in cash. By December that year, his ownership increased to 9.4%, amounting to 11 million shares acquired at an average price of $107 each. When Bear Stearns was subsequently sold to JP Morgan at $10 per share, Lewis faced an estimated loss of approximately $1.16 billion on this investment.
Mitchells & Butlers
Lewis holds the position of largest shareholder in Mitchells & Butlers, a leading British pub operator. Through his investment company Piedmont, he controls 26.85% of its issued shares—a stake accumulated since 2008.
Insider trading conviction
On 25 July 2023, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York formally charged Lewis with several counts related to insider trading. He was accused of providing confidential information to employees, associates, and others, and extending loans amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars to facilitate trades based on this privileged data. Lewis turned himself in to Manhattan authorities on 26 July 2023 and entered a guilty plea in January 2024. In April 2024, he received a sentence of probation along with a $5 million fine, thereby avoiding imprisonment.
Personal life
Lewis has been married on two occasions. His first marriage to Esther Browne ended in divorce, and they had two children together, one of whom is Vivienne, regarded as his "heir" and serving on Tavistock's board of directors. Vivienne was previously married to Toby Silverton, the former chairman of Bristol Cars, a company once wholly owned by Tavistock. Additionally, she was engaged for 18 years to Craig Johnston, a former Liverpool footballer. Lewis is presently married to Jane Lewis.
Among Lewis's symbols of personal wealth is his ownership of the 98-meter superyacht Aviva, which reflects his status and private affluence.
Art collection
The art holdings of Lewis are estimated to be worth around $1 billion and feature masterpieces by artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Lucian Freud, and Henry Moore. A significant acquisition was Francis Bacon's Triptych 1974–1977, purchased in 2008 for £26.3 million, setting a record for European postwar art at that time. In 2018, Lewis sold David Hockney's Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) at Christie's for $90.3 million.
He also possesses multiple editions of Arturo Di Modica's renowned Charging Bull, including the original statue installed on Wall Street in 1989 without official authorization. This sculpture remains a prominent element within his varied investment assets.
External links
- 1937 births
- Living people
- Bear Stearns people
- British art collectors
- British billionaires
- British financial businesspeople
- Currency traders
- British expatriates in the Bahamas
- British investors
- Businesspeople from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
- British businesspeople in real estate
- Jewish art collectors
- Jewish British philanthropists
- People from Bow, London
- Tavistock Group