Reginald Francis Lewis was the first black American to build a billion-dollar company. He was born on December 7, 1942 in Baltimore, Maryland. The creation of TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Inc by Lewis was an amazing feat of hard work, remarkable ingenuity and true genius from a man who grew up in a middle class Baltimore neighborhood. Lewis died on January 19, 1993 in New York City at age 50 due to brain cancer. Reginald would have become the first black billionaire if he would not have succumbed to brain cancer at the age of 50 in 1993. At the time of his death, he was the richest African-American in U.S. history. Lewis started out as a attorney and became the first black man to head his own law firm on Wall Street. In 1987, he mastered a $1 billion dollar purchase of TLC Beatrice, a giant food distributor with 64 companies in 34 countries. Lewis would go on to run a business empire spanning four continents. In his spare time, he mentored African-American students and entrepreneurs. Lewis donated $1 million dollars to Howard University and $3 million to Harvard Law School where a building is named in his honor. He holds the distinction of the being the only African-American with a building named in his honor on a Ivy League campus. In the early 90's, Lewis tried unsuccessfully to buy the Baltimore Orioles. After his death, his brother and his widow Loida ran TLC Beatrice, they would eventually sale the company for billions. At the time of his death, Reginald Lewis was worth $500 million dollars.