Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?

"Why should white guys have all the fun?" One of Reginald Lewis's earliest childhood memories was of hearing his grandparents talk of employment discrimination against African-Americans. When asked for his opinion on the subject, six-year-old Reg simply replied: "Why should white guys have all the fun?" Why, indeed! This precociously self-assured boy would grow up to become the wealthiest black man in history and one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time. Profiled in Forbes magazine as one of the four-hundred wealthiest businesspeople in America, Lewis reigned over a commercial empire spanning four continents. At the time of his death in 1993, his personal fortune was estimated by Forbes to be in excess of $400 million. Having apprenticed in the art of the leveraged buyout while head of his own successful Wall Street law firm, he went on to mastermind some of the most spectacular deals ever, including the $1 billion purchase of food giant Beatrice International-one of the largest leveraged buyouts ever. A noted art collector and connoisseur, he was also a celebrated philanthropist who gave away a vast fortune to charity. Yet despite the notoriety surrounding Lewis's financial coups, until now, little has been written about the life of this remarkable but private man. Based on Reginald Lewis's unfinished autobiography as well as scores of interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, "Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?" cuts through the myth and media hype to reveal the man behind the legend. What emerges is a vivid portrait of a proud, fiercely determined individual with a razor-sharp tongue-and an intellect to match-who would settle for nothing less than excellence from himself and others. Tracing Lewis's rise from an east Baltimore working-class neighborhood to Harvard Law School and ultimately into the elite circle of Wall Street deal-makers, journalist Blair Walker shows how Lewis's lifelong hunger for wealth and personal achievement drove him to success at whatever he turned his hand to. Walker also provides us with 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. An inspiring tale of a remarkable man's victory against overwhelming odds, "Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?" is a book as memorable as the man whose story it tells.Lewis, Reginald F. is the author of 'Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?' with ISBN 9780471042273 and ISBN 0471042277.