Loida Nicolas-Lewis
| Loida Nicolas-Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Loida Nicolas 1942 (age 73–74) Sorsogon City, Sorsogon, Philippines |
| Nationality | Filipino American |
| Known for | businesswoman, philanthropist, civic leader, motivational speaker, author, and lawyer. |
Loida Nicolas Lewis (born 1942) is a Filipino-born American businesswoman who is the widow of TLC Beatrice founder and CEO Reginald F. Lewis.
Business interests
From 1994-2000, Loida Nicolas Lewis served as Chair and CEO of TLC Beatrice International, a $2 billion multinational food company with operations all across Europe. TLC Beatrice was the successor to the international operations of Beatrice Foods. She assumed leadership of the company after the death of her husband, the African-American Wall Street financier Reginald F. Lewis, who had been the company's first chairman and CEO. Lewis served as an informal adviser and confidant to her late husband.[1]
Currently, Lewis is Chair and CEO of TLC Beatrice, LLC, a family investment firm.[2]
Legal work
Lewis earned a law degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1960 and was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1968.
Lewis was the first Asian American to pass the American Bar (in 1974) without having been educated in the United States.
She worked for the Law Students Civil Right Research Council in New York in 1969, Manhattan Legal Services from 1970-3, and as an attorney for the Immigration and Naturalization Services from 1979-90.
Early life and personal life
Lewis was born and raised in Sorsogon City, Philippines.
She attended St. Agnes' Academy (formerly Academia de Sta. Ines) in Legazpi City and went to St. Theresa's College, a private, Roman Catholic women's college in Manila, where she graduated cum laude.
Nicolas-Lewis met her husband-to-be Reginald F. Lewis on a blind date in New York City in 1968. They were married on 16 August 1969 in Manila. They had two daughters, Leslie and Christina.
Reginald Lewis acquired Beatrice International in December 1987 in a $985 million leveraged buyout, creating the largest African American-owned company in the United States. The family moved to Paris in 1990. Lewis has spoken to audiences around the United States and the world to promote the biography of her late husband, Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?….How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion Dollar Business Empire.'
Nicolas-Lewis currently resides in New York City.
References
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