Trump pardons British billionaire who admitted participating in insider trading scheme
WASHINGTON (AP) — British billionaire Joe Lewis, whose family trust owns the Tottenham Hotspur soccer club, was pardoned by President Donald Trump more than a year after he was fined $5 million after pleading guilty to insider trading and conspiracy charges in New York, authorities said Thursday.
Lewis, 88, had requested a pardon so he could receive medical treatment and visit his grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the United States, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a pardon that has not been officially announced.
Lewis pleaded guilty in January 2024, saying he knew that sharing non-public information, which he had learned in corporate boardrooms about publicly traded companies, with others who later bought shares of those companies was wrong. At the time of the statement, he was free on $300 million bail.
via News
According to prosecutors and an indictment, Lewis shared the secrets with friends, employees and romantic interests from 2019 to 2021, urging them to profit from the clues.
He escaped a prison sentence when a New York federal court judge, GL Clarke, cited his poor health and a lifetime of good works during his sentencing in April 2024.
“Your Honor, I am here today because I made a terrible mistake. I am ashamed,” Lewis said at the sentencing. He also said he planned to “make amends and rebuild the trust I have squandered” for the rest of his life.
In addition to the fine in the sentence, it was also revealed during the court process that Lewis and one of his companies, Broad Bay Limited, would pay more than $50 million in financial penalties.
Lewis has a fortune that Forbes once estimated at more than $6 billion, with assets in real estate, biotechnology, energy, agriculture and more. He bought a stake in Tottenham Hotspur, one of England’s most historic football clubs, in 2001.
Under his ownership, the Premier League club built a state-of-the-art stadium at an estimated cost of more than $1 billion.
ForceHeFacts
Your supportFuelsOur Mission
Your supportFuelsOur Mission
The Trump administration hopes its deepest secrets remain hidden, but we will not stop demanding answers. Your membership strengthens journalism that holds those in power accountable. Join today.
We remain committed to bringing you the unwavering, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We are truly grateful for readers like you! Your early support helped get us here and strengthened our newsroom, keeping us strong in uncertain times. As we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
We remain committed to bringing you the unwavering, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We are truly grateful for readers like you! Your early support helped get us here and strengthened our newsroom, keeping us strong in uncertain times. As we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
News themezone Support
Are you already a member? Sign in to hide these messages.
Today, a trust benefiting members of Lewis’ family is the majority owner of ENIC, the holding company that owns the team. Lewis himself is not a beneficiary of that trust and relinquished operational control of the club in October 2022, according to corporate documents.
Lewis’s Tavistock Group owns all or part of more than 200 companies worldwide, according to its website, and its art collection features works by Picasso, Matisse, Degas and more.
His business connections include Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Justin Timberlake, with whom he built a seaside resort in the Bahamas that opened in 2010.