- Net worth
- Unknown
- Crimes
- securities fraud, conspiracy
- Convicted of
- Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud (two counts)
- Original sentence
- Three years' probation; $5,000,000 fine; $400,000 restitution (as amended) (April 4, 2024)
- Time served
- N/A (probation)
Background
Joseph Lewis is a British billionaire (estimated net worth over $6 billion) who controls Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and has major investments in biotech and other sectors. He was charged in the Southern District of New York with insider trading and securities fraud.
The Case
Prosecutors alleged that between 2019 and 2021, Lewis passed material nonpublic information about his portfolio companies—including the cancer therapy developer Mirati Therapeutics and the SPAC BCTG Acquisition (Tango Therapeutics)—to two private pilots, friends, personal assistants, and romantic partners, who then traded on the tips. He was originally charged with 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy spanning 2013–2021. In January 2024 he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud. In April 2024, U.S. District Judge Jessica Clarke sentenced the 87-year-old Lewis to three years of probation, a $5 million fine, and $400,000 restitution, and no prison time, citing his age and serious health issues. His Bahamas company Broad Bay Ltd. agreed to pay a $50 million fine as part of the resolution, and Lewis agreed to resign from U.S. company boards and give up majority control of Boxer Capital, the biotech fund where he obtained the inside information. Insider trading harms other investors who trade without the same information and undermines the integrity of public markets.
The Pardon
On November 12, 2025, President Trump granted Lewis a full pardon.