Trump Pardons British Billionaire Joe Lewis Convicted in U.S. Insider Trading Case

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has granted a presidential pardon to British billionaire Joe Lewis, who was convicted of insider trading in New York last year, according to a person close to the Lewis family.

Lewis, whose family trust controls a majority stake in the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, is among several wealthy business figures convicted of financial crimes who have received clemency from Trump during his second term. Others include Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and Nikola founder Trevor Milton.

In a statement, Lewis said he was “grateful that this chapter is now behind me” and looked forward to retirement while watching his family continue to build their businesses “on the foundation of quality and excellence that has become our hallmark.”

The news of the pardon was first reported by The Athletic on Thursday.

According to U.S. prosecutors, Lewis had shared confidential information from his portfolio companies with his private pilots, friends, personal assistants, and romantic partners.

Now 80 years old, Lewis had been ordered to pay a $5 million fine and serve three years of probation following his conviction.

Prosecutors said that between 2019 and 2021, Lewis obtained insider information about four companies in which he had invested and passed it along to associates who then traded on the tips.

Among those companies were Mirati Therapeutics, a cancer therapy developer, and BCTG Acquisition, a blank-check firm sponsored by Boxer Capital that took biotech company Tango Therapeutics (TNGX.O) public through a 2021 merger.