American businessman
Peter B. Lewis
|
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Born
| Peter Benjamin Lewis
(
1933-11-11
)
November 11, 1933
|
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Died
| November 23, 2013
(2013-11-23)
(aged 80)
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Nationality
| American
|
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Alma mater
| Princeton University
(
A.B.
)
|
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Occupation
| Businessman
|
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Known for
| CEO of
Progressive Insurance Company
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Spouse(s)
| Toby Devan (1955-1981; divorced)
Janet Rosel (2013)
|
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Children
| with Devan:
--Ivy Lewis
--Jonathan Lewis
--Adam Joseph Lewis
|
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Parent(s)
| Joseph Lewis
Helen Lewis
|
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Peter Benjamin Lewis
(November 11, 1933 ? November 23, 2013) was an
American
businessman who was the chairman of
Progressive Insurance Company
.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Lewis was raised in a
Jewish
[1]
[2]
family in
Cleveland Heights
, Ohio,
[3]
the oldest of four children born to Helen and Joseph Lewis.
[3]
[4]
His father ? who had co-founded a small auto insurance company named
Progressive Insurance
with Jack Green in 1937
[5]
? was grooming Lewis to work at the company when he died at age 48 while Lewis was a junior
[4]
at
Cleveland Heights High School
.
[3]
He graduated with an A.B. in politics from
Princeton University
in 1955 after completing a senior thesis titled "The Financially Irresponsible Motorist -a Problem in Practical Politics."
[6]
[4]
Career
[
edit
]
After college, Lewis joined Progressive Insurance as an underwriting trainee. In 1965, he and his mother borrowed $2.5 million, pledging their majority stake as collateral, and completed a
leveraged buyout
of Progressive.
[3]
[4]
Lewis became chief executive officer of a company which had 40 employees at that time.
[3]
He subsequently grew the business and, by the 1960s, Progressive had over 100 employees and $6 million in annual revenue. Lewis focused on insuring high-risk drivers ? where premiums were greater ? using an innovative pricing system and consumer-friendly service offering competitor quote matching and instant claims service. He also brought in a slew of young, enthusiastic workers and devolved decision-making downward, fostering a relaxed yet disciplined and creative corporate culture.
[3]
As of 2010, Progressive had grown to 27,250 employees, with sales of $15.0 billion and had become the third-largest auto insurance company in the
United States
.
[7]
In 2000, Lewis retired as
CEO
of Progressive, though he remained as chairman of the board.
Philanthropy and political contributions
[
edit
]
Lewis frequently donated money to charities and liberal political groups. He was a patron of the arts, even going so far as to display Andy Warhol's 10-part series of China's Chairman
Mao Zedong
in 1974 at Progressive's office in Mayfield Village. Lewis's personal and corporate contemporary art collection is well known ? the corporate collection is displayed at Progressive Insurance offices.
In September 2012 Lewis signed the
Giving Pledge
promising to give at least half his wealth to charity.
[8]
[9]
[2]
Lewis made donations to:
- Princeton University
(A
Frank Gehry
designed science library, $60 million; the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, $55 million;
Lewis Center for the Arts
, $101 million. Total $233 million to date.)
- Case Western Reserve University
(The
Weatherhead School of Management
Peter B. Lewis Building, another Frank Gehry design, $36.9 million, out of $61.7 total building cost)
- Marijuana Policy Project
(Donated $3,000,000 to MPP in 2007.)
- The Guggenheim Museum
($50 million)
- America Coming Together
and
MoveOn.org
(with
George Soros
matching his $10 and $2.5 million, respectively)
- American Civil Liberties Union
$15 million
- The Democratic Party
- Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
-sponsored MDMA/PTSD Research in the US, Switzerland and Israel $750,000 [www.maps.org]
- Menorah Park (Peter B. Lewis Aquatic & Therapy Center)
- Traction
- Support of California's
Proposition 19
also known as the Regulate, Control & Tax Cannabis Act (
Donation
of $159,005 on 10/15/2010)
- Support for
Washington Initiative 502
with contributions totaling $2,038,700
- Oberlin College
(The Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center, a hotel and conference center that will be the cornerstone of Oberlin's Green Arts District; $5 million gift out of a total cost of $32 million.)
[10]
Lewis was a
trustee
of
Princeton University
, former chairman of the board of directors at the
Guggenheim Museum
(resigned January 19, 2005), and served on the board of the
Cleveland Museum of Art
. Although Lewis often gave substantial gifts to artistic and educational organizations, he also had a reputation for ? often forcefully ? insisting that such organizations be financially accountable and financially sound; in 2002, Lewis said he would no longer give to Case or
Cleveland
's
University Circle
neighborhood or to any Cleveland Charities due to poor civic and organizational leadership and management.
[11]
While he did restrict Cleveland giving, he did not follow through completely on that threat.
[12]
Lewis was an advocate of taxing and regulating the use and sale of
marijuana
and was one of the main financial backers of the campaign to legalize the use of marijuana for
medical
use in the United States. In January 2000, Lewis was arrested and charged in
New Zealand
for possession of
marijuana
. Lewis pleaded guilty to three charges and paid a substantial fine, though under New Zealand law he was not required to serve time in jail or prison. According to his lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, Lewis used the marijuana on the advice of his doctor for pain relief after the partial
amputation
of his leg in 1998.
[13]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 1955, Lewis married Toby Devan.
[3]
They amicably divorced in 1981. They had three children:
[14]
Ivy, Jonathan and Adam Joseph.
[3]
He had homes in
Miami
,
Cleveland
,
New York City
, and
Aspen, Colorado
; he also traveled around the world on his motor yacht,
Lone Ranger
.
[14]
Since 1985, his ex-wife Toby, who had worked at the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, took over the expansive Progressive art collection.
[3]
In September 2013, he married his long-time companion, Janet Rosel of Cleveland.
[15]
Lewis died of a heart attack at his home in
Coconut Grove, Florida
, on November 23, 2013, twelve days after his 80th birthday.
[16]
He was interred at
Mayfield Cemetery
in
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
.
[17]
His net worth at the time of his death was $1.25 billion.
[18]
[19]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Capital Research Center: Peter B. Lewis: "“Aviator” of the Left?" by John Gizzi
Archived
2012-01-31 at the
Wayback Machine
retrieved July 23, 2012
- ^
a
b
Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Dan Gilbert, Peter B. Lewis join 'Giving Pledge' to donate some of fortunes" By Michael K. McIntyre
September 24, 2012
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
American Policy Roundtable: "Peter B. Lewis: This lone ranger has nothing to hide from the Plain Dealer" by Steven Litt
Archived
2015-09-23 at the
Wayback Machine
September 29, 2002
- ^
a
b
c
d
Crains Cleveland: "Peter Lewis -Chairman, Progressive Corp" By ARIELLE KASS
May 24, 2010
- ^
Progressive Insurance: Our History
retrieved March 23, 2013
- ^
Lewis, Peter Benjamin (1955).
"The Financially Irresponsible Motorist -a Problem in Practical Politics"
.
- ^
"Peter B. Lewis Building at Weatherhead School of Management"
. Case Western Reserve University
. Retrieved
2013-11-24
.
- ^
Cleveland Jewish News: "Bronfman, other Jewish philanthropists, sign Giving Pledge"
September 20, 2012
- ^
Loomis, Carol J.
"A pot-loving billionaire joins the Giving Pledge"
. Fortune Magazine. Archived from
the original
on 28 October 2012
. Retrieved
25 October
2012
.
- ^
"Oberlin Names New Hotel and Conference Center in Honor of Peter B. Lewis"
.
Oberlin College News Center
. Archived from
the original
on 21 June 2014
. Retrieved
13 June
2014
.
- ^
Litt, Steven (September 29, 2002).
"Peter B. Lewis: This lone ranger has nothing to hide"
.
Cleveland Plain Dealer
. Archived from
the original
on 23 September 2015
. Retrieved
12 February
2018
.
- ^
Litt, Steven (July 10, 2012).
"Peter B. Lewis donates $5 million to the Cleveland Institute of Art, his biggest hometown donation in a decade"
.
Cleveland Plain Dealer (Cleveland.com)
. Retrieved
12 February
2018
.
- ^
"Eccentric billionaire has high profile at home" by Josie Clarke
, The New Zealand Herald, August 31, 2000
- ^
a
b
Cleveland Clinic: Peter B. Lewis
retrieved March 23, 2013
- ^
Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Peter Lewis is praised at his funeral for his drive, creativity and generosity" By Steven Litt
November 26, 2013
- ^
Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Insurance executive Peter B. Lewis dies at age 80", by Steven Litt November 23, 2013
- ^
Litt, Peter (November 26, 2013).
"Peter Lewis is praised at his funeral for his drive, creativity and generosity"
.
The Plain Dealer
. Retrieved
March 20,
2016
;
"Peter B. Lewis dead at 80"
. Associated Press. November 23, 2013
. Retrieved
March 20,
2016
.
- ^
Forbes: The World's Billionaires: Peter Lewis
September 2013
- ^
Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (November 24, 2013).
"Peter B. Lewis, Philanthropist Who Led Progressive Auto Insurance, Dies at 80"
.
The New York Times
.
External links
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International
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National
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