In a shocking development, Joe Lewis, a prominent art collector and former stakeholder in Christie’s, has been indicted on insider trading charges in New York. The indictment, announced on Wednesday, implicates Lewis and his private pilots, Patrick O’Connor and Bryan “Marty” Waugh, for engaging in illegal stock dealings based on non-public information between 2019 and 2021. As a consequence, all three individuals now face the prospect of prison time.
The charges assert that Lewis and his pilots used confidential information to their advantage when offering stock tips, allegedly obtaining insider knowledge through employees at companies in which Lewis had invested. At the center of the indictment is Lewis’s private investment company, Tavistock Group, of which he is the principal owner. The accusations involve Lewis deputizing employees to serve on various company boards, subsequently utilizing them as sources of private information, including upcoming favorable test results for biochemical companies. The indictment claims that Lewis misused and misappropriated this confidential information to provide stock tips to various individuals, including employees, romantic partners, and friends, as a form of compensation and gifts.
While Joe Lewis is renowned within the art world for his impressive collection and his past ownership of a 30 percent stake in Christie’s during the 1990s, the indictment does not directly address his forays into the art market. The collector, born in England and based in the Bahamas, is reputed to have amassed a collection rich in Impressionist art, reportedly worth $1 billion, including works by Gustav Klimt, Pablo Picasso, and Edgar Degas. Lewis also owns the iconic Arthur Di Modica sculpture, Charging Bull, which has become a popular tourist attraction near Wall Street in Lower Manhattan.
Lewis’s art dealings have previously attracted scrutiny. An investigation by The Guardian raised questions about his purchase of the Ganz collection and its subsequent sale at Christie’s. However, the current indictment focuses solely on his alleged misuse of insider information gained through his involvement with companies.
According to the indictment, Lewis falsely represented the extent of his ownership in the pharmaceutical company Mirati Therapeutics. He purportedly controlled 19.99 percent of the company through a complex network of shell companies and entities, including an offshore trust purportedly for the benefit of his granddaughter.
US attorney Damian Williams emphasized the gravity of the charges against Lewis, stating, “Joe Lewis is a wealthy man, but as we allege, he used inside information as a way to compensate his employees or to shower gifts on his friends and lovers. That’s classic corporate corruption. It’s cheating. And it’s against the law—laws that apply to everyone, no matter who you are.”
With the indictment pending, the art world awaits further developments in this legal saga involving a once-prominent figure in the industry.
