Black in Business — A Black History Month Celebration of Industry Transforming Figures: Reginald Lewis

Nearly two years after his death, writer and journalist Blair Walker took businessman Reginald Lewis’ unfinished memoir, performed several interviews with his loved ones and colleagues, and published a transformative and uplifting story of Black excellence in business, Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?

Chronicling the life of Lewis, the first Black person to own a billion-dollar company, Lewis’ story and presence in law and on Wall Street inspired a generation of Black entrepreneurs and professionals, myself included.

The Foundational Building Blocks

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Lewis believed that he could accomplish the impossible from a young age. While listening to his grandparents discuss workplace discrimination and pondering whether it could be different, Lewis chimed in to offer his assessment, “Sure. Why should white guys have all the fun?”

While a humorous quip for a six-year-old, this anecdote exemplifies the spirit instilled in him to always be the best he could, no matter what others said. He understood that as a Black man in America, he needed to work twice as hard to get half as far; so he got to work. At age ten, Lewis set up a delivery service for the local Afro-American newspaper — within two years, he sold it for a profit.

Lewis attended Virginia State University on a football scholarship. After an injury cut his career short, he further focused his attention on work and school, graduating with a political science degree in 1965. The following summer, Lewis attended a program at Harvard organized to introduce more African Americans to the legal profession.

While attending this program, Lewis thoroughly impressed the Harvard administration officials, and as a result, they invited him to begin his studies in the fall. This became one of many “firsts” on his resume, as he became the first person in the law school’s history to be accepted before applying.

Breaking Into the Industry

Immediately following graduation, Lewis was recruited to the distinguished New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. After two years, he left to start the first Black American law firm on Wall Street, Wallace, Murphy, Thorpe and Lewis.

After 15 years of practicing as a corporate lawyer, a familiar thought returned to Lewis: why should white guys have all the fun? Instead of advising on deals, he wanted to do them himself and created the private equity firm TLC Group L.P. in 1983.

I remember reading about Lewis’ most notable buyout, Beatrice International Foods, in Black Enterprise magazine in 1987. At the time, his acquisition of the snack, beverage and grocery chain was the largest offshore buyout in American history — and was led by a Black man no less. After renaming the company TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc., he revamped it into the first billion-dollar Black-owned company in the U.S.

Lewis had a unique approach to his investment firm. While others enjoyed bragging about the next deal they hoped to land, Lewis never talked about a deal until it was done. This is an approach that I have infused across my work and philanthropy — do not tell people what you are going to do, rather show them what you have done — so you show them what’s possible.

Giving Back

In 1987, Lewis established the Reginald F. Lewis Foundation, whose mission is to help rectify the institutional discrimination that continues to haunt the U.S. by investing in economic and social justice, particularly for the next generation.

One of the first grants that the foundation provided was $1 million to Howard University; this gift was matched by the federal government, helping to fund Howard’s endowment to provide scholarships, fellowships, and fund faculty sabbaticals to attract and retain leading professors to teach top Black talent.

Lewis had long wanted to support a museum of African American culture, however, he tragically passed away from brain cancer before he was able to see this dream come to fruition. In 2005, twelve years after his death, the Foundation provided a grant to support the opening of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture.

A Legacy Beyond Black History Month

As Black History Month comes to an end, I want to challenge all of us to continue carrying Black history with us throughout the rest of the year. It is not only about the legacies made, but the legacies that the giants of our past continue to inspire today.

History is a living, breathing phenomenon, one that we are fortunate enough to shape and guide each day. Let us continue to use our abilities and influence to elevate the stories that shape us, and those that continue to be made.