Who owns Tottenham Hotspur and has billionaire Joe Lewis sold the club?
JOE LEWIS has been charged with insider trading by American authorities.
But what exactly is his role at Tottenham?
The 86-year-old, whose family members are part of a trust that owns 70 per cent of ENIC – the company that owns 86.5 per cent of Spurs – is one of the least well-known supremos in the Premier League.
But the action the US government has taken over his alleged insider trading has thrust the reclusive Brit, who hardly ever attends Spurs games, into the spotlight.
The majority stake in the club, adding up to 86.58 per cent of the total shareholding, is owned by ENIC Sports Inc, registered in the Bahamas.
However, that stake is split.
Until October, Lewis held 70.12 per cent of the ENIC stake, although the investment was through the Lewis Family Trusts.
But on October 5 2022, Lewis ceased to be a “person of significant control” and no longer has an active role.
His stake was split between two associates, Miami born Bryan Glinton, a Bahamas-based longstanding legal adviser to Lewis’ Tavistock group, and British-born asset manager Katie Booth.
Under the formal transfer of shares, the pair now have the powers previously held by Lewis including the “right to appoint and remove directors with control over the trustees of a trust”.
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The remaining 29.88 per cent of the ENIC stake is held by Daniel Levy “and certain members of his family”, again, via a discretionary trust.
That leaves 13.42 per cent owned by “small shareholders” – fans rather than companies.
Born in the East End of London in 1937, cockney Lewis is believed to have been raised in a flat above a pub named the Roman Arms in Bow.
He quit school at 15 to wait tables in his family’s cafe, earning just £6 a week, and then to help run his father’s catering business, Tavistock Banqueting.
One of the organisation’s restaurants included a fancy dress-themed eatery in London called the Northumberland Grand, while Lewis also gave Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock founder Robert Earl his first job.
Lewis managed a super club called The Talk of the Town – where the likes of Frank Sinatra performed – in the 1960s, and granted girl group The Nolans their first live show.
He sold Tavistock Banqueting for a whopping £30million in 1979 and relocated to Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, where he turned his millions into billions by currency trading.
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One particular investment on Black Wednesday in September 1992 helped elevate him to uber-rich status, as he successfully bet on the Pound crashing out of the European Exchange Rate as Britain tried to align it with other Euro countries.
He became a billionaire overnight, and the financial magic trick worked again years later with a big short against the Mexican peso.
Lewis’ enormous wealth, which has been estimated by Forbes to be £4.65bn, has allowed him to enjoy some of the finest luxuries known to man.
His super-yacht, named the Aviva III and which was built in 2007, is used as his mobile private office around the Caribbean.
The ship can host up to 16 people, can reach speeds of 23 miles per hour and boasts a full-sized tennis court.
Michael Dawson was among the Spurs players welcomed on board the 223-foot vessel – said to be worth £195m – during a post-season tour of the Bahamas in May 2013.
The defender said at the time: “What a really nice guy. And that yacht is unreal! But he’s just a normal guy. You could chat to him about anything.
He’s always watching. He knows what goes on
Michael Dawson
“It helps to be able to put a face to the person investing so much in this club he wants to be successful. He’s always watching. He knows what goes on. He would remember every game, every little thing.”
Lewis is best mates with Tiger Woods, who has called the billionaire “my business mentor”, and is said to dine regularly with fellow golf superstar Ernie Els.
But perhaps what encapsulates best the ultra-privileged life Lewis leads is his art collection, which is believed to be worth around £1bn and includes works of Picasso and Matisse.
In 2008, the businessman spent £26.3m on Francis Bacon’s Triptych 1974-1977 painting.
The tax exile bought a controlling stake in Spurs from Apprentice favourite Alan Sugar for £22m in 2021, with the club now valued at around £4bn.
Yet whatever the outcome of his indictment, there is no doubt it provided yet more distractions for Ange Postecoglou.
The new boss reached 50 days in the job on Wednesday as his side beat local side Lion City Sailors in Singapore.
He must be desperate for the focus to return to football.
But with yet another off-field body blow, this time involving Lewis, nicknamed the Boxer because of his sporting namesake, that does not seem likely any time soon.
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