Who Was Reginald Lewis?

The Reginald Lewis Story is one of the world’s greatest untold “rags-to-riches” stories. Reginald F. Lewis was born on “Pearl Harbor Day”, December 7, 1942, in racially

segregated Baltimore, Maryland. Reggie was raised by a tough-love single mother, in a large family headed by grandfather Sam Cooper, a World War I veteran who fought in Paris and taught Reggie the secret origins of the U.S. Dollar. Reggie’s first business deal began at age ten with a Baltimore Afro-American newspaper route he went door-to-door building from 10 to 100 subscribers. Reggie then sold the paper route to a friend for a profit before the friend knew Reggie didn’t own the route. An altar boy raised in a devoutly Catholic family and educated in Catholic schools his entire childhood, Reggie was devastated when Baltimore’s all white Catholic high schools rejected him in 1954. But driven by his dream of becoming the NFL’s first black quarterback, 15 year old Lewis picked Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School, where he mostly “majored” in football, girls and cars. Lewis arrived at Dunbar just as new integration laws allowed black and white high schools to compete for the first time on the same playing field. Lewis quarterbacked Baltimore’s first interracial football game against the highly favored predominately white Polytechnic Boys High School, winning the game in a 12-8 thriller which almost caused a race riot. Afterwards, Lewis was nearly murdered on the treacherous streets of Baltimore. 

In 1961, Lewis entered Virginia State College on a football scholarship with mediocre grades. After losing his scholarship due to a shoulder injury, Lewis tried to enlist in the U.S. Army, but was rejected when his physical exam revealed he had diabetes. Lewis was faced with the tough choice of either quitting school or working his way through college. Lewis chose education, and ultimately graduated on the Dean’s List. During his senior year, Lewis made history as the first student admitted to Harvard Law School without an application or taking the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). Lewis graduated Harvard in 1968 and joined Paul, Weiss one of New York’s most prestigious law firms. A young bachelor, he also began romancing Loida Nicolas, a brilliant and beautiful Philippine born attorney who repeatedly rejected Lewis, only to later become his wife. When a law partner advised Lewis to quit practicing law because he would never make partner, Lewis started his own Wall Street law firm. As a corporate lawyer, Lewis helped launch many renowned businesses, like Essence and Black Enterprise Magazines. However, in 1983, Lewis formed the TLC Group to buy Fortune 500 companies. After three failed deals and a near nervous breakdown, Lewis used a bit of guile to score the $22.5 million buyout of the McCall Pattern Company. Under Lewis, McCall enjoyed the most profitable years in its 113 year history. In 1987, Lewis sold the company for $90 million, making a $50 million profit.

In America, Lewis made millions. But in France, he achieved billions. In October 1987, Lewis made global history when he teamed with Michael Milken to buy for

$985 million, one of Europe’s biggest brands, Beatrice International Foods. This Paris based global empire spanned 31 countries including Canada, China, U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Switzerland, Denmark, Mexico and Australia. The Beatrice deal was the largest overseas buyout by an American company in Wall Street history. As Chairman and CEO, Lewis grew the company’s worldwide sales to over $2 billion. 

Lewis worked hard and played hard. He moved his family from New York to Paris where he ran the multi-billion dollar food empire’s global operations in France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Thailand and the Netherlands. He owned mansions in New York and luxurious homes in Paris all fully staffed with maids, butlers and chauffeurs. He dined with U.S. Presidents, smoked imported Monte Cristo Cuban cigars, toasted his deals with the finest bottles of Dom Perignon champagne and was treated like a celebrity in Paris. He was an art connoisseur, loved jazz and Sinatra, sported a Bentley and traveled the world on his own private plane, a

Canadair “Challenger”. In 1992, Fortune Magazine named Lewis one of the “400Wealthiest Americans.” In 1994, his autobiography, “Why Should White Guys Have

ALL the Fun?” became a national bestseller. 

With all of Lewis’ success, he did not forget others. In 1987, he established The Reginald F. Lewis Foundation. The foundation made grants of approximately $10 million to various education, children, community, civil rights, arts and health programs and organizations. A grant of $3 million was made to Harvard Law School, then, the largest grant in the school’s history. In gratitude, the school named its International Law Center building for Reginald F. Lewis. Lewis’ legacy lives on in many institutions around America bearing his name, including the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History & Culture, which opened June, 2005. 

Lewis’ final battle came when he was mysteriously stricken with brain cancer. Despite Lewis’ courageous fight to the end, the disease tragically cut short his life on January 19, 1993 at age 50. At his funeral, Bill Cosby, expressing the sentiments of millions who were inspired by Lewis’ story, wrote a letter which read: "Reggie Lewis is to me, not was, is to me what Joe Louis is to me. What Jackie Robinson is to me. Regardless of race, color, or creed, we are all dealt a hand to play in this game of life. And believe me, Reg Lewis played the hell out of his hand.”

This is the Reginald Lewis Story...An International Story That Must Be Told