Reginald Lewis
Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes
The richest African American man in the 1980′s. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he grew up in a middle class neighborhood. He won a football scholarship to Virginia State College (now Virginia State University), graduating with a degree in economics in 1965. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1968. He was also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. In 1992, Forbes magazine listed Lewis among the 400 richest Americans with a net worth estimated at $400 million. He also was the first African American to build a billion dollar company.
His first major deal was the purchase of the McCall Pattern Company, a home sewing pattern business for $22.5 million. Lewis learned from a Fortune magazine article that one of the Norton Simon companies that Esmark planned to divest was McCall Pattern Company, a maker of home sewing patterns founded in 1870. With fewer and fewer people sewing at home, McCall was seemingly on the decline—though it had posted profits of $6 million in 1983 on sales of $51.9 million. At the time, McCall was number two in its industry, holding 29.7 percent of the market, compared to industry leader Simplicity Patterns with 39.4 percent. He managed to negotiate the price down and then raised $1 million dollars himself from family and friends and borrowed the rest from institutional investors and investment banking firm First Boston Corp.
Within one year, he turned the company around by freeing up capital tied in fixed assets such as building and machinery, finding a new use for machinery during downtime by manufacturing greeting cards, and he then started to recruit managers from rival companies. By containing costs, improving quality, beginning to export to China, emphasizing new product introductions. This combination led to the company’s most profitable year in its history. With the addition of McCall real estate worth an estimated $6 million that they retained ownership of, he later sold the company at a trememdous profit for investors a 90-1 return. Lewis’s share was 81.7 percent of the $90 million.
In 1987 Lewis bought Beatrice International Foods from Beatrice Companies for $985 million, renaming it TLC Beatrice International, a snack food, beverage, and grocery store conglomerate that was the largest African-American owned and managed business in the U.S. The deal was partly financed through Mike Milken of the maverick investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert. In order to reduce the amount needed to finance the LBO, Lewis came up with a plan to sell off some of the division’s assets simultaneous with the takeover. When TLC Beatrice reported revenue of $1.8 billion in 1987, it became the first black-owned company to have more than $1 billion in annual sales. At its peak in 1996, TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc. had sales of $2.2 billion and was number 512 on Fortune magazine’s list of 1,000 largest companies.
Book of Reginald Lewis life in Recommended Books “Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun”
Extra: I would hate to miss the opportunity to tell you that this is the Man I modeled my life after. This is the book I read when I was 18 that changed the way I went about life. I too have a Economics degree and I too have a law degree and I too went into International Trade as was mentioned in the book. I can probably recite every page in this book and I have only read it once. This is why I write and share my thoughts because Reginald Lewis chose to share his!
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You know, I always thought white folks killed that Nigga.
Most successful people have a mentor, even if it is person that may not have met or known personally. That’s why books, blogs, all these communication outlets are great for people sharing their stories the good and the bad, but focusing more on moving forward and doing for self. Because their is no way that you can help someone else if first don’t learn how to help and love yourself.
Thanks for sharing this bio of man that changed your life and the fact that this man gave you a vison for your own bright future. And now look at you sharing your story with others too. That’s what it is all about bringing out the good in others so that they too can shine and rise to their highest potential.
Thank you for not keeping your success story to yourself but sharing it with others that may never know you personally, but have a blueprint of how to hustle to make a better life for themselves, children, family, and communities. You know I have been riding with you from the begining and I have learned so much through it all and want to tell you THANK YOU for impact that you have had on my life. I’m back in school and trying to make a better life for myself.
It is all about empowerment and have that epiphany experience changes your path in life. That “Execute Over Emotion” that make you get up and go when you want to stay home and sleep. Thank you for celebrating other people’s success instead of bashing someone else’s success because we ALL can be Great in our special way with our own special talents. There is really no need for hate because when we all operate in our own special specific gifts and talents tehn we do not have to do it all by ourselves. In essence that’s the beauty of the hustle everybody supporting each other’s hustle making the wheel go round and round.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to what is that MAN/WOMAN in the Mirror going to do to make their dreams a reality!
Thanks for sharing and God Bless.
Hey, a little off the subject, but maybe you can add spell check to the comment section. I always go back and read what I wrote and after it posted I realize I made some kind-of spelling/grammar error LOL. Yeah, it is the perfectionist in me, but think about it ok
A lot of people thought Bob Johnson from BET was the first but TLC the lewis companies was the real first Black Billionaire!
@BossMack – I thought the same thing because as soon as he got on top the cat got a brain tumor. It was crazy timing on this cat but at least he got to touch the top. His wife just sold the companies recently so he left the legacy!
@Freedom – I don’t do spell check but you can do it on your computer. Look on my podcast I speak slang so believe me we can see what you mean. The goal is to make sure people have enough examples so we don’t think it’s rare. RL is just my own personal story of following the advice of someone who did it.
@OTM – What’s funny is people don’t count Madam CJ Walker at all when they talk about black business. I don’t know where people chose to start Black History but we have a lot of folk who did big things way before they put into law the con of equality and access.
Let me point out something to all of those sell-out-suburb-living Black folks who look down on a critical element of our history. The first Black Billionaire graduated from an HBCU! Keep that in mind the next time y’all tell one of our kids that they need to go to Whitey University to get ahead. Oh and just so y’all know, RL is just a small sample of what HBCUs have produced.
@OTM, thanks for reminding us of Madame CJ Walker. I hate to say it, but I think our folks flat out discredit her because she’s a her.
@Carl – What makes it funny is just simple understanding of history should make any of us realize that the majority of educated Black folk probably attended a Black college. Same thing could be said today as I still believe HBCU crank out more college graduates.
I agree Madam CJ Walker is somehow not even counted like she wasn’t part of our history. Like I said I don’t know when the powers that be started recording our history but it seems to be right after Madam CJ Walker made her billion!
No it wasn’t “after”! You have to remember, the “great editor in chief of all Black history” started our chronology with slavery, intentionally skipped right over anything positive, gave a quick head-nod to successes in recent history (and I mean very recent, think about how many blank steers you get when you mention Reginald Lewis and that was in the ‘80s) only because we still remember, and act like Obama just appeared on his own with no acknowledgement to all that made his success possible.
@Carl – “great editor in chief of all Black History” was probably a white guy cosigined by a slap happy Black. I mean we have some folk who are writing our history and they don’t seem to go that far back in looking for greatness.
Case in point is it common Black knowledge to know what kind of businesses composed Black Wall St? Do we even know all the Black folk who held patents? Is Marcus Garvey and the building of the Black Star Line considered a business or just a footnote.
Someone got us putting singers as Black History. Now I don’t mind including them but they sure as hell ain’t significant figures like they changed the world. We celebrate grammy wins and utter bullshit as accomplishments. Either way every Thursday I’m bringing Black Business Back to the forefront with Folk you should know. If I leave it up to everyone else they’re going to tell me how Fresh Prince got the first Rap Grammy like that is worth framing and putting next to Malcolm X!
Thank you for this post. I am constantly having my daughter research and learn about those Black people that came before us that took care of TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS! I hate this current thought perception in the minds of our young people[*sigh* yes, and too damn many older people] that Black people didn’t contribute anything to this country and the genuine shock and awe when it is not the names of entertainers (athletes, singers, actors, rappers, etc) that they are accustomed to hearing about coming from our people!
The fact that ALL children are not required to learn about ALL people that contributed in history for the building of these United States in school still puzzles me. Sure they have added the pieces about slavery but that isn’t ALL that were represented in this country and that is the main part they focus on as a way to keep our minds in the basement in regards to what we think of ourselves.
We’ve done TOO much to contribute to the foundation of this country for that not to be respected and KNOWN in all circles most especially our own! If our kids grow up knowing their whole history they are more inclined to do better because they have actual examples to draw from which should encourage them to build on it and do even better in their lives. Hell I don’t care what anyone says our people created THIS! If it wasn’t for our strength, tenacity and survival skills Europeans would have hauled ass back to where they came from.
@BlackButterfly – Well glad I can be of service. Well if keep leaving our history up to other people they are only going to highlight the people of our race that they liked. It’s alot of our faults for asking other people to include us instead of building and archiving our history for ourselves.
We all know what we did it’s just without the names and faces it just appears like a myth!
Thanks for this post! I read “Why should White Guys Have All The Fun” 9 years ago and I believe to date, it’s the only book that has ever brought tears to my eyes. As a fellow Black Man it moved me that much!
I was so inspired of all that he had endured to become the man he was and if I remember correctly, no matter what challenges arose in his business pursuits, he NEVER pointed the finger at anyone. Never!
As a matter of fact, there were those in his inner circle that tried to comfort him by suggesting he was being discriminated against when he was making those “power moves” but he wouldn’t hear none of that. He didn’t play the race card… people like him and President Obama rarely do, they just find a way to win!!
I have his book sitting right in my personal library. I even bought extra copies and gave them to my brother and others as inspirational gifts.
Thanks again for remembering one of the great ones!
RTurnerJR
@RTurnerJr – Welcome! Yeah he was about his money and growing his business. I was sad he died of brain cancer too but if he didn’t I probably wouldn’t have known his story. It’s not like these guys volunteer much of their life so you get to know intimately what they were thinking. So it’s a tragedy because a great man died but it’s a blessing because I got to learn and see what I could possibly be!
I couldn’t find this book at local libraries they said it’s too old (it’s only from 1995) Maybe they don’t want us blacks to have the secrets to success.
I am in school for business management, should I switch to economics though?
They aren’t hiding anything you just have to look one more place than free. We got to pay for knowledge that’s just the way the game is.
Economics is a good brain teaser but it’s hard. If I could do it all over again I would learn marketing as that is a essential part of business. The learning how to make people buy and having that game downpacked is a big key. Otherwise stay where you are as even mangament is important if you plan to manage your employees. You’ll go through the same business courses as all the others marketing and finance. Stay in your lane and finish as all college is, is a requirement.
Great read Freeman. I’ve been doing alotta back tracking with the posts on this website. When i’m finished with my Robert Green ish, this is gonna be read right after lol.
Yeah Reginald Lewis was my inspiration and let me know what was possible with hustle and grit.
Take your time homie as I really appreciate that you are reading the books. The secret is in the books the reward is getting out and executing.
yeah them books is key. I use to be so much more into the hustle when I was 17, I read almost 100 books on financials in the summer. I was so on it and so ready to make real money, but of course I listened to my broke family members who said to go to school and get a job. They shunned the ideal of getting rich, and ridiculed me for reading “get rich quick books”. They even said I was obsessed about making money and there’s more in life. I wish I would have just listened to myself and other people with chips who were giving me the good advice. Oh well, I’m 20 now so it’s not too late. Just later than I liked, it sucks when cat’s see me from high school and say they thought I would be a millionaire by now because they remember me constantly reading, and I have to say I am an employee. All because I stopped reading.
I am reading two of the books you recommended Freeman. “How come that idiot’s rich and I’m not” and “How to get rich when you aint got nothing”
We all go down one road to figure out it’s the wrong one. Don’t fret, right the ship and go back to the ways you know. You’re back now and as long as you try to bring things into being I’m sure you’ll reach the millions.
Most people don’t want to do the STUDY WORK to really get money. It’s a lifetime undertaking as money evolves with you.
Glad you’re reading the books as most people just think they know. The problem is they are broke so what they know ain’t worth shit!