"Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun": How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion-Dollar Business Empire

"Voyages deep into the frenzied, complex world of LBO transactions."—BusinessWeek

"Sheds light on an important chapter in both African-American and American business history."—Earl G. Graves, Publisher, Black Enterprise magazine

When Reginald Lewis was six years old, his grandparents asked his opinion about employment discrimination against blacks. Reg replied simply, "Why should white guys have all the fun?" Why, indeed! Lewis grew up to become the wealthiest black man in history and one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time, reigning over a commercial empire that spanned four continents. At the time of his death in 1993, his personal fortune was estimated at $400 million.

"Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?" traces Lewis's rise from a working-class neighborhood in east Baltimore to Harvard Law School and, ultimately, into the elite circle of Wall Street deal-makers. Expanding on Lewis's unfinished autobiography, journalist Blair Walker completes a vivid portrait of a proud, fiercely determined man with a razor-sharp tongue—and an intellect to match. He shows how Lewis's lifelong hunger for wealth and personal glory fueled his success on the playing field, in the classroom, and in the boardroom. Walker also provides a rare insider's view of Lewis, the iron-willed negotiator and brilliant business strategist in action as he finesses one phenomenal deal after another.

A moving saga of personal courage and determination as well as a virtual how-to book for those who would like to follow in Lewis's footsteps, "Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?" is every bit as memorable as the man whose story it tells.

REGINALD F. LEWIS was chairman, chief executive, and principal shareholder of TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Inc., until his untimely death of brain cancer in January 1993. He was fifty years old when he died.

BLAIR S. WALKER is a former financial writer with the "Money" section of USA Today. He has also worked as an editor with New York Newsday and as a reporter with the Chicago bureau of The Associated Press.