Reginald Lewis

In 1983, Reginald F. Lewis founded TLC Group, a private equity firm. In 1987, the firm made history with its acquisition of the international food operations of Beatrice Foods Company for an impressive $985 million. A deal which was partially financed through Michael Milken of the investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert. TLC Beatrice International was created as a conglomerate, encompassing snack food, beverage, and grocery stores. At the time, it held the distinction of being the largest black-owned and black-managed business in the United States.

• In 1987, TLC became the first black-owned company to generate revenues exceeding $1 billion. Its revenue for that year reached an impressive $1.8 billion.
• At its peak in 1996, TLC Beatrice had sales of $2.2 billion and ranked number 512 on Fortune magazine's list of the 1,000 largest companies.

Mr. Lewis was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1942 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1968. Immediately after law school, he was recruited to the prestigious New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Nevertheless, after a span of two years, he decided to part ways with the company and embark on a new journey by establishing his own practice. This shift allowed him to delve into the realm of investments, where he truly demonstrated his prowess in negotiating and effectively overseeing leveraged buyouts. After 15 years as a successful corporate lawyer, Mr. Lewis went on to create TLC Group L.P.

His first major deal was the acquisition of the McCall Pattern Company, a home sewing pattern business, for $22.5 million. Mr. Lewis learned from a Fortune magazine article that one of the Norton Simon companies that Esmark planned to divest was the McCall Pattern Company. McCall Pattern Company is a maker of home sewing patterns founded in 1870. With fewer and fewer people sewing at home, McCall appeared to be on the decline. However, it had managed to post profits of $6 million in 1983, with sales reaching $51.9 million. At that time, McCall held the second position in its industry, with a market share of 29.7 percent. In comparison, the industry leader, Simplicity Patterns, had a market share of 39.4 percent.

Mr. Lewis successfully negotiated the price down and raised $1 million dollars from his family and friends, while borrowing the remaining amount from institutional investors and the investment banking firm, First Boston Corp. Within one year, he successfully turned the company around by freeing up capital tied up in fixed assets such as buildings and machinery. He also found a new use for the machinery during downtime by manufacturing greeting cards. Additionally, he started recruiting managers from rival companies. By implementing cost containment measures, improving product quality, expanding into the Chinese market, and prioritizing new product introductions, this strategic combination resulted in the most profitable year in the company's history. With the addition of McCall Real Estate, valued at an estimated $6 million, which they retained ownership of, they later sold the company for a significant profit, resulting in an impressive return of 90-1 for investors. Impressively, Mr. Lewis's share accounted for a significant majority of the substantial $90 million sum, totaling an impressive 81.7 percent.

In 1991, Lewis became the only Black person to make the Forbes 400 list of America’s wealthiest that year., with a net worth of $340 million (equivalent to $656 million in 2021), according to Forbes.

Reginald F. Lewis died in 1993 at the age of 50.

He details his experience in his book "Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?'': How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion-Dollar Business Empire".