Last Friday (7 December) would have been Reginald F Lewis’ 65th birthday. He was the first African American to own a company with more than $1 billion in annual sales.
His first major deal was the purchase of the McCall Pattern Company, a home sewing pattern business for $22.5 million. His second and most notable was a $985 million leveraged buyout in 1987 of global giant Beatrice International Foods, which had 64 companies in 31 countries. Within several years, he had built it up to a $2 billion company.
In 1992, Forbes magazine listed Lewis among the 400 richest Americans with a net worth estimated at $400 million.
His legacy lives on and his autobiographical book ‘Why should white guys have all the fun-How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion-Dollar Business Empire’ continues to inspire many black entrepreneurs.
I had this book. Loved it. I think I was the only one reading it at a young 20 something. So sad Jay Z’s post gets all the comments when Lewis was the first black billionaire way before Bob Johnson.
This book is very inspirational and it vividly captures the essence of Mr. Lewis. I felt like I was in the boardroom with him! I highly recommend it.
Randy Williams
Acquisition Specialist
Unified Product Distribution, Inc.
http://www.updonline.com
Who does the blkpreneur support in the Presidential ‘08 race, and how do you see that candidate fostering an economic climate that will benefit black entrepeneurs?
Greetings to Blackpreneur readers and Reginald F. Lewis legacy fans:
Say a prayer or wish for the success of my life ventures/ goals.
Respectfully,
E. Jarod Ellis
i think this is a very inspiring website . I think every black american ,young and old, should read mr.lewis’s book .
a wonderful book to read.i read it immediately it came out.sad that another titan of that era bruce wasserstein has just died.
yes black folk the world over should read the book.unfortunately most african-americans i spoke to did not know about reginald lewis and they were the educated ones.
our youth are deep into the rap and hip-hop to read words of more than two syllables.one hopes that with obama thinks will change.
there are great examples of enterprise the world over to show the strides achieved by black folk.
the achievements of mr reginald lewis is certainly one of my best examples and my 4 year old son will have it in his reading list.yes “why should white guys have all the fun” indeed