New memoir offers intimate look at Reginald Lewis’ journey to becoming first Black billionaire

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Reginald Lewis, the late husband of Filipina lawyer Loida Nicolas Lewis, overcame systemic racism and became the first Black dealmaker to seal a billion-dollar buyout

MANILA, Philippines – A new memoir offers an inside look at the life and legacy of Reginald Lewis, the first Black businessman to complete a billion-dollar buyout.

Lewis’ public relations strategist Butch Meily offers readers a glimpse into the billionaire’s high-stakes corporate maneuvers in From Manila to Wall Street: An Immigrant’s Journey with America’s First Black Tycoon.

In an interview with One News, Meily described Lewis as a larger-than-life person who overcame systemic racism in the United States to become the first Black billionaire.

“He was the first Black American to try and list his company on the New York Stock Exchange. He failed. He’s the first Black American to live on Fifth Avenue in New York because at the time, in the ’80s and the ’90s, blacks were not allowed to live on Fifth Avenue,” he said.

Meily’s memoir delves into the opulent lifestyle Lewis led amid his business triumphs, including private jets, a chauffeured Bentley, and residences in Paris — all while mingling with Wall Street legends like Michael Milken.

The book also explores the ethical dilemmas, personal ambitions, and the toll of relentless work that defined their journey. 

“Reginald Lewis, he had this saying, ‘Keep going no matter what.’ So, I think the idea is, no matter what your obstacles, no matter where you started in life, because he started in a poor neighborhood in Baltimore, you can make it. We were two outsiders chasing the American dream there, and in our own ways, we achieved it,” Meily recalled.

Apart from Lewis, Meily also worked with other key figures such as Filipino tycoon Manuel Pangilinan. He is currently president of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, Ideaspace Foundation, and QBO Innovation Hub.

Fully Booked will be launching From Manila to Wall Street: An Immigrant’s Journey with America’s First Black Tycoon at its Bonifacio Global City store on Sunday, July 20, at 3 pm.

Who was Reginald Lewis?

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Lewis initially practiced corporate law but faced systemic barriers that prevented him from making partner.

He went on and founded his own law firm and, in 1983, established a private equity firm, TLC Group L.P. Lewis’ 1987 acquisition of Beatrice International Foods — which owned brands such as Tropicana and Krispy Kreme — for $985 million was the largest offshore leveraged buyout of its time, turning his company into a global conglomerate.

Lewis met his wife, Filipina businesswoman and philanthropist Loida Nicolas, through a blind date in New York City in 1968. They married six months later and have two children together.

Loida Nicolas Lewis was the first Asian woman to pass the New York state bar without studying in a US law school.

When Lewis tragically died in 1993 due to a brain tumor, Loida continued to run her husband’s empire before selling the company in 1999.

Lewis’ widow never forgot her own Filipino roots, upholding her fellow Filipino immigrants’ rights as an attorney for the US Immigration and Naturalization Service for a decade. Loida is also an influential leader in the Filipino-American community as a member of the Global Filipino Diaspora Council. – Rappler.com