President Donald Trump has issued a pardon to Joe Lewis, a British billionaire who pleaded guilty last year to federal insider trading charges.
Lewis, whose family remains the controlling shareholder of the English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, was indicted in 2023 on allegations that he schemed for years to abuse his access to corporate boardrooms and repeatedly shared inside information with romantic partners, associates, private pilots and others.
“Mr. Lewis admitted he made a terrible mistake, did not fight extradition in the case, and paid a $5 million fine,” a White House official told NBC News in a statement Thursday confirming the pardon first reported by The Athletic.
The statement said that the 88-year-old Lewis, who now lives in the Bahamas, “requested a pardon so that he may receive medical treatment and visit his grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the United States.”
Lewis’ net worth is $6.9 billion, according to a Forbes estimate.
In a statement provided through Harry Roxburgh, a spokesperson for Tavistock Group, Lewis said: “I am pleased all of this is now behind me, and I can enjoy retirement and watch as my family and extended family continue to build our businesses based on the quality and pursuit of excellence that has become our trademark.”
A source close to the Lewis family said in a statement that Lewis and his family “are extremely grateful for this pardon and would like to thank President Trump for taking this action.”
Trump recently resumed issuing pardons after the White House temporarily paused and sought to tighten its reviews following concerns that the process had become a lucrative business for lobbying and consulting firms during Trump’s second term.
Trump on Monday pardoned his former attorney Rudy Giuliani and 76 others who have been tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, including attorneys Sidney Powell, John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, as well as his former chief of staff Mark Meadows. Those pardons, however, are viewed as largely symbolic since none of the individuals were convicted of federal crimes, which are shielded by presidential pardon power.
Last month, Trump commuted the sentence of former Rep. George Santos. The New York Republican was set to serve seven years in prison after pleading guilty last year to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.
