Joseph C. Lewis (born 5 February 1937) is a British businessman, investor, and philanthropist who holds a number of assets mainly through his Tavistock Group investment portfolio. He was previously the majority owner of ENIC Group, which is also the majority owner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, between 1991 until October 2022.[1] Majority ownership was passed to the Lewis Family Trust in October 2022.[2] The Trust is managed by two independent professional trustees on behalf of its beneficiaries. Lewis is not a beneficiary.[3]
According to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2023, Lewis has a net worth of £5.096 billion, an increase of £811 million from 2022.[4]
Lewis was born to a Jewish[5][6] family above a public house in Roman Road, Bow, London.[7] Lewis left school at 15 to help run his father's West End catering business, Tavistock Banqueting. When he took the reins, he quickly expanded it by selling luxury goods to American tourists, and also owned West End club the Hanover Grand, where he gave Robert Earl his first job.[7] He later sold the business in 1979 to make his initial wealth.[citation needed]
Lewis hosted the Tavistock Cup tournament every March from 2004 through 2013, in Florida, [11][12] raising millions of dollars for charity, and owns three of the six clubs that competed in 2013:[13] Albany, Lake Nona Golf & Country Club and Isleworth Golf & Country Club. Lewis built a golf community in the Bahamas called Albany, which opened in October 2010. Lewis currently resides in Albany. Tiger Woods and Ernie Els are also major shareholders in the luxury resort community located in New Providence. Lewis made a £70 million investment in Bulgarian property development.[14]
Lewis seeded Lake Nona, covering 7,000 acres next to Orlando's international airport, with $100 million in gifts and land which was cultivated into a large-scale community offering research and educational facilities, hospitals for veterans and children, a town center, and a range of workspaces and residential options.[15]
Since Lewis bought a property in Río Negro Province, Argentina, public access to Escondido lake has been under discussion. The Argentine law asserts that every water course is public and of free access.[16] In 2009 Lewis was ordered by the Superior Tribunal de Justicia (STJ) to create and keep access to the lake, with "sufficient signage and to keep it transitable", but the ruling has not been enforced. Lewis' frontman Van Ditmer stated: "We are going to defend the private property with the Winchester in the hands; with blood if needed".[17]
He is currently planning to use a huge protected area, four times the size of the city of Buenos Aires, for another private development, against the wishes of the locals. The property was bought for 69 pesos per hectare, currently about US$4. This low price was secured by using the name of a local 'poblador' on the deed, after which it was transferred to him. It is suggested that the Hidden Lake property is needed to supply water and (hydraulic) energy to this new property, dubbed the private state in Patagonia. In January 2017, new mass protests have started in El Bolson against this project.[17][18]
On 10 September 2007, Lewis paid US$860.4 million in an all-cash purchase of a 7% stake in Bear Stearns.[19] By December 2007 Lewis had raised his stake at the brokerage firm to 9.4%, a total of 11 million shares, for which he paid an average price of $107 apiece.[20] After the purchase of Bear StearnsbyJP Morgan for $10 a share, it was estimated that Lewis lost $1.16 billion on his investment.[7][21][22]
Lewis is the largest shareholder in the British public house group Mitchells & Butlers, controlling 26.85% of the issued share capital through his investment vehicle Piedmont, which he built up since 2008.[23][24]
On 25 July 2023, United States attorney for the Southern District of New YorkDamian Williams announced that Lewis would be charged for multiple counts of insider trading. Lewis is accused of tipping off employees, associates, friends, and romantic interests with non-public information about various entities and lending some of them hundreds of thousands of dollars to trade on the privileged knowledge.[25][26] Lewis surrendered himself to the Manhattan authorities on 26 July 2023,[27] pleading guilty to the charges in January 2024.[28] In April 2024, Lewis was spared jail time after admitting insider trading, sentenced to probation, and fined $5 million.[29][30]
Lewis has been married twice. His first marriage to Esther Browne ended in divorce. They had two children: Vivienne Lewis Silverton and Charles Lewis. Vivienne Lewis Silverton is seen as his "heir"[7] and is on Tavistock's board of directors.[31][32] She is divorced from Toby Silverton, the former chairman of Bristol Cars, once fully owned by Tavistock.[33][34][35] She was engaged to the ex-Liverpool footballer Craig Johnston for 18 years in the 2000s to 2010s.[36] Charles Lewis lives in Argentina,[7] Lewis is now married to Jane Lewis.[7]
Lewis is the owner of several versions of Arturo Di Modica's iconic Charging Bull, including the original, which the artist installed during the middle of the night on 15 December 1989 on Wall Street with no prior permission from the authorities.[41][42][43]
