British billionaire Joe Lewis is pardoned by Trump for insider trading and conspiracy crimes

WASHINGTON — British billionaire Joe Lewis, whose family trust owns the Tottenham Hotspur soccer club, was pardoned by President 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 sharing nonpublic information that he had learned from corporate boardrooms about publicly traded companies with others who then bought stock in those companies was wrong. At the time of the plea, he was free on $300-million bail.

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 tips.

He was spared a prison sentence when a New York federal court judge, G.L. Clarke, cited his failing health and a lifetime of good works during his sentencing in April 2024.

“Your honor, I’m here today because I made a terrible mistake. I’m ashamed,” Lewis said at sentencing.

He also said he planned “to make amends and to rebuild the trust that I have squandered” for the remainder of his life.

Besides the sentencing fine, it was also revealed during court proceedings 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 an interest in Tottenham Hotspur, one of England’s most storied soccer 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.

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 filings.

Lewis’ Tavistock Group owns all or parts of more than 200 companies worldwide, according to its website, and his art collection boasts works by Picasso, Matisse, Degas and more. His business connections include Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Justin Timberlake, with whom he built a Bahamian oceanside resort that opened in 2010.

Madhani writes for the Associated Press.