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| Photo: School named after Reginald Lewis. Source: Wikimedia Commons |
The richest man in the world is Aliko Dangote of Nigeria with a net-worth of over $20 Billion dollars. Before him Reginald Lewis started the trend of black men reaching the top in the wealth list. His wealth was estimated to be $400 million at the time before he died in 1993.
Reginald F. Lewis was born on December 1942 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a great entrepreneur right from the time he entered Dunbar High School. He did well both in sports and education. He was a quarterback on the school football team.
Reginald was very hardworking to the extent that he worked part time at night and during weekends during his time in high school.
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In 1961, Reginald joined Virginia State University and studied Economics. He had a rough first year but he ended up graduating at the top of his class. After Virginia, Lewis attended Harvard Law School. He was admitted without submitting a formal application.
At Harvard, he majored on Securities Law. This is why he wrote his research paper on takeovers. He graduated from Harvard in 1968 and started working at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison. He worked for the firm for only two years before he started his own law firm.
In 1983, he established TLC Group L.P. in order to get into the game. This was his first major buyout deal. He paid $22.5 million for the company. In 1987 Reginald sold the company for $90 million after making it very profitable.
Lewis was always shuttling between New York and Paris. He preferred staying in Paris because of the way European treated him. He said that in Paris he was not looked down upon due to the color of his skin as is the case in the US.
Lewis met his premature dead in 1993 after a short illness. He was suffering from brain tumor. During his life, he became the richest black man in the world.
Reginald Lewis Legacy in Pictures
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| Photo: International Law Center at Harvard Law School named after Reginald |
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| The Lewis College in Philippines named after Reginald Lewis. Source: Lewis website |
