President Donald Trump has pardoned Joe Louis, the 88-year-old British billionaire and former owner of soccer club Tottenham Hotspur, who pleaded guilty to insider trading in the United States last year.
A White House official said Thursday that Lewis “requested a pardon so he could receive medical treatment and visit his grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the United States.”
The official added that Lewis, a British citizen living in the Bahamas, “admitted he had made a terrible mistake, did not contest extradition in this case and paid a fine of US$5 million (R26.4 million).”
“When it’s all said and done, I’m happy to be able to enjoy my retirement and watch my family and extended family continue to build a business based on the quality and pursuit of excellence that has become our hallmark,” Lewis said.
He was indicted in New York in 2023 after an investigation revealed he passed tips on buying stocks to friends, a private pilot and his girlfriend. Prosecutors alleged that the recipients of the tips made more than US$500,000 (Reais 2.6 million) by trading privileged information that Mr. Ruiz had access to through his multiple board seats.
But a federal judge last year decided not to arrest Mr. Lewis, who appeared to be remorseful in part because of his age.
This action is the latest in a series of pardons granted by the President of the United States. Last month, he pardoned Qiao Changpeng, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who pleaded guilty to money laundering. President Trump also commuted the sentence of former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was convicted of wire fraud and identity theft.
The Lewis family maintains a majority stake in Enic, which owns Tottenham Hotspur, and recently oversaw a shake-up of the Premier League club’s board. Daniel Levy, who served as Tottenham’s chairman for around 25 years, resigned in September and was replaced by Enic director and former private banker Peter Charrington.
Sources close to the family said at the time that the change was part of a broader effort to find more success on the field.
Former Arsenal CEO Vinay Venkatesham joined Tottenham in April and the Lewis family invested £100m in the club in October.
Lewis transferred his interest in Enick to a family trust in 2022. Mr. Lewis is not one of the beneficiaries of the trust, but other members of his family are as well.
Born in 1937 to an immigrant family above a pub in east London, Lewis left school as a teenager and joined his father’s catering business. He first found success with a themed restaurant chain before immigrating to the Bahamas from England in 1979.
He built a reputation in financial markets for large-scale speculative currency trading, including lucrative bets against the British pound, up until 1992, when the UK withdrew from the European Exchange Rates Organization, in what became known as “Black Wednesday”.
“Joe was a visionary throughout his long business career, creating businesses around the world that are now passed down through several generations of his family. That’s why the Joe Louis story goes far beyond this single event,” said a source close to the Lewis family.
About The Author
