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This time, his generosity
It seems to have been used in the wrong place.
Author: Chen Jiali
If it weren't for lawsuits, British billionaire Joe Lewis rarely appeared in the spotlight.
According to British media, the name "Lewis" usually appears in the media up to two times a year: one is when the latest wealth list is released, and the other is likely when his 321 foot yacht is docked by the Thames River.
At other times, this 86 year old billionaire was low-key and rarely interviewed. The outside world only saw him expose a few girlfriends until he became the big boss behind Tottenham Hotspur, and little was known about him.
Compared to the financial giant George Soros, who also gained fame for his 1992 sniping of the pound, Lewis is like a "little transparent" who only knows how to make big money quietly. Global People reporter found that he currently ranks 438th on the Forbes Global Rich List with a net worth of 6.2 billion US dollars.
·Lewis's personal page on Forbes website.
At the end of July, Lewis was charged by US prosecutors on suspicion of insider trading.
Interestingly, his problem is not simply profiting from insider information, but rather sharing it with personal assistants, girlfriends, pilots, and others for a long time to benefit from. If the charges are established, he may face 16 counts of securities fraud and 3 counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
A "grand gift" for my girlfriend
In a 29 page indictment, specific details of Lewis's charges were exposed.
On a morning in August 2019, Lewis's private yacht docked at a harbor in California, USA. The sun shone on the deck, and Lewis on the lounge chair drank coffee. He just received news that his American cancer research company Mirati, which he invested in, will release favorable clinical trial results.
Lewis called his 33 year old girlfriend Caroline Carter and said, "Buying Miratti stocks, time is crucial.". He is still teaching her how to operate step by step over the phone. The next day, Caroline's agent used almost all of her assets to buy 16400 shares.
A few days later, while flying on a private plane from San Diego to the Bahamas, Lewis told the two pilots on the plane that they could buy more Mirati stocks and stated that they might "double, triple, or even quadruple.". Not only that, he also transferred $500000 each to the two pilots, asking them to buy as much as possible.
After one of the pilots, O'Connor, got off the plane and immediately messaged one of his friends, asking him to buy Mirati stocks as soon as possible. "The boss must know something, just buy it right," he said. At the same time, he also told his friend about the boss lending him money to invest in stocks: "I look up at him like a little dog, making him unable to refuse."
According to the indictment, including Lewis' administrative assistant, a friend who had an ambiguous relationship with him, and a friend who sometimes played poker with him in Argentina, all bought Mirati stocks at Lewis's suggestion.
On October 28, 2019, after Mirati publicly announced its experimental results, the stock price rose by nearly 17%, and Lewis's "friends and family" made a big profit. Two pilots used the money they earned to pay off Lewis's loan.
According to the prosecution, similar "billionaire" stories have been happening around Lewis for the past 8 years.
He is accused of obtaining information from companies he invests in and disclosing this insider information to people around him in advance. In addition to the aforementioned Mirati companies, there are also listed companies such as Life Sciences Group, beef producer Australian Agriculture Company, and a company called BCTG that specializes in acquisition business.
The US prosecutor stated in a statement that as an extremely wealthy person, Lewis's behavior was completely unnecessary. "Lewis uses insider information to compensate employees or give gifts to friends and loved ones. This is cheating and illegal."
Lewis completely denies the allegations. His lawyer stated that the US government made a serious judgment mistake: "Lewis is a person of integrity, impeccability, and remarkable achievements. He has voluntarily come to the US to address these inappropriate accusations, and we will vigorously defend him in court."
A 15-year-old "financial tycoon" who dropped out of school
Unlike Soros, who graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Lewis was completely an outsider before entering the investment world.
Lewis dropped out of high school at the age of 15 and never learned any knowledge about finance.
After dropping out of school, he helped his father manage the restaurant at home and earned a weekly salary of £ 6. As an adult, he took over the family business and expanded his business scope, promoting luxury goods to American tourists, establishing travel companies, and investing in real estate. When operating overseas tourism business, he noticed changes in exchange rates and potential profit opportunities, and began to be exposed to foreign exchange trading.
His innate sense of forex has gradually fascinated him with this business.
In 1979, at the age of 42, Lewis grew tired of the unchallenged restaurant business and sold all his assets in the UK for £ 30 million, moving to the island nation of the Bahamas on the west coast of the Atlantic to live.
In the Bahamas, Lewis began to devote himself wholeheartedly to foreign exchange trading. At this time, it is the golden age of foreign exchange trading, and global foreign exchange traders often come home with unexpected victories in their dealings with banks and other institutions.
What made Lewis famous in World War I was the 1992 Battle of Sniper Pound.
At that time, he joined George Soros's short selling team and gained huge wealth during the pound crash on Black Wednesday that year. Soros made a profit of £ 1 billion, and Lewis's profit amount has not been confirmed by me. There are rumors that he even made more money in this £ ambush than Soros.
Another huge harvest came from the 1995 Mexican financial crisis.
At the end of 1994, Mexico fell into a huge deficit, and speculators believed that the peso lacked government support and would experience a sharp decline. Lewis seized this opportunity and successfully shorted the peso, doubling his wealth once again.
·Lewis's asset change curve over the past 10 years.
Lewis rarely discusses his trading history in public, but he did personally acknowledge that the period from 1992 to 1995 was the "most decisive and effective stage" of his life.
Afterwards, Lewis founded the globally renowned private investment company Tavistock Group. The group has invested in over 200 companies in 15 countries worldwide, covering areas such as real estate, healthcare, and sports events, including Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
Lewis is not a football fan himself, but in his residence in London, England, he became neighbors with Sean Connery, who played 007. Under Sean's introduction, Lewis became interested in investing in football clubs.
The Independent reported that until his 80s, Lewis continued to conduct foreign exchange transactions at his residence in the Bahamas, and most of his rooms were equipped with exchange rate monitoring screens, making it easy for him to track global currency trends at any time.
Success requires "quiet enjoyment"
Although his assets are spread around the world, Lewis does not have a fixed office. His favorite is on his mobile office - the private yacht Aviva, carrying his beloved art collection while manipulating foreign exchange trading and traveling around the world.
Among the multiple super yachts owned by Lewis, Aviva is a luxury giant ship worth over 100 million US dollars, nearly 100 meters in length, and capable of accommodating 16 people. Every time Aviva stops by the Thames River, people know that billionaire Lewis has arrived.
"Aviva is not just my office, it has also been my home for many years. So no matter where Aviva drifts in the world, working there is very relaxing." More than 20 years ago, Lewis described his experience of working remotely on the private yacht Aviva in a media interview.
Perhaps it is this state of being isolated from the world while drifting on the sea that has successfully kept Lewis's life away from the media and exposure.
"I sincerely believe that if a person achieves success, one of the rewards is being able to quietly enjoy it. If you only pursue the front page of a newspaper, you cannot enjoy the fruits of this success." In 1998, Lewis talked to The New York Times about why he doesn't like to share his life with the outside world.
Lewis's unusually low profile also caught the attention of the fraudsters.
Someone impersonated Lewis and opened a website called "Lewis Trading Network", causing many traders to mistakenly believe that it was founded by billionaire Lewis. They invested a huge amount of money, but ended up losing everything. In the past 10 years, this fake Lewis has engaged in fraudulent activities exceeding £ 20 million.
Because Lewis is rarely exposed in front of the media, people can only glimpse a little of his temper and temperament from the descriptions of people around him.
An article about Lewis published in The Guardian in 2008 quoted a business partner who had been with him for 10 years: "He never loses control, never yells, never stomps, never gets angry over anything. He is a very dedicated person." "He is thoughtful, persistent, intelligent, cautious, and always well-organized."
In 2013, Lewis also invited the entire Tottenham Hotspur team to travel to the Bahamas on Aviva.
At that time, center back Michael Dawson of the team recalled, "I had never seen Lewis himself before, and that trip to the Bahamas was an excellent experience." "He was so kind, that yacht was fantastic. Lewis had no airs, we could talk to him about anything."
Lewis, as described by his friend, is "kind and loving," but when it comes to stock market trading this time, his "generosity" seems to have been misplaced.
