Former Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis officially pardoned by Donald Trump | OneFootball

British billionaire Joe Lewis, whose family trust owns the Tottenham Hotspur football club, has been pardoned by President Donald Trump, authorities confirmed on Thursday. The pardon comes more than a year after Lewis was fined $5 million and admitted guilt to insider trading and conspiracy charges in New York.

Lewis, 88, had sought the pardon to facilitate medical treatment and visits with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the United States, according to an anonymous White House official discussing the pardon that has not officially been announced.

He pleaded guilty in January 2024, stating he knew that sharing non-public information, which he had learned from corporate boardrooms, with others who then bought shares in those companies was wrong.

At the time of his plea, he was free on $300 million bail. Prosecutors and an indictment alleged Lewis shared these secrets with friends, employees and romantic interests between 2019 and 2021, urging them to profit from his tips.

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Besides the sentencing fine, it was also revealed during court proceedings that Lewis and one of his companies, Broad Bay Limited, would pay more than $50 million in financial penalties. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

He was spared a prison sentence when a New York federal court judge, G.L. Clarke, cited his failing health and a lifetime of good works during his sentencing in April 2024.

“Your honor, I’m here today because I made a terrible mistake. I’m ashamed,” Lewis said at sentencing.

He also said he planned “to make amends and to rebuild the trust that I have squandered” for the remainder of his life.

Besides the sentencing fine, it was also revealed during court proceedings that Lewis and one of his companies, Broad Bay Limited, would pay more than $50 million in financial penalties.

Lewis has a fortune that Forbes once estimated at over $6 billion, with assets in real estate, biotechnology, energy, agriculture and more. He bought an interest in Tottenham Hotspur, one of England’s most storied soccer clubs, in 2001.

Under his ownership, the Premier League club built a state-of-the-art stadium at an estimated cost of more than $1 billion.

Today, a trust benefiting members of Lewis’ family is the majority owner of ENIC, the holding company that owns the team. Lewis himself is not a beneficiary of that trust and relinquished operational control of the club in October 2022, according to corporate filings.

Lewis’ Tavistock Group owns all or parts of over 200 companies worldwide, according to its website, and his art collection boasts works by Picasso, Matisse, Degas and more. His business connections include Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Justin Timberlake, with whom he built a Bahamian oceanside resort that opened in 2010.