Peter Benjamin Lewis (November 11, 1933 – November 23, 2013) was an American businessman who was the chairman of Progressive Insurance Company.

Early life and education

Lewis was raised in a Jewish family in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the oldest of four children born to Helen and Joseph Lewis. His father — who had co-founded a small auto insurance company named Progressive Insurance with Jack Green in 1937 — was grooming Lewis to work at the company when he died at age 48 while Lewis was a junior In 2000, Lewis retired as CEO of Progressive, though he remained as chairman of the board.

Philanthropy and political contributions

Lewis frequently donated money to charities and liberal political groups. He was a patron of the arts, even going so far as to display Andy Warhol's 10-part series of China's Chairman Mao Zedong in 1974 at Progressive's office in Mayfield Village. Lewis's personal and corporate contemporary art collection is well known — the corporate collection is displayed at Progressive Insurance offices.

thumb|right|[[Frank Gehry's Weatherhead School of Management Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Reserve University]]

In September 2012 Lewis signed the Giving Pledge promising to give at least half his wealth to charity.

Lewis was a trustee of Princeton University, former chairman of the board of directors at the Guggenheim Museum (resigned January 19, 2005), and served on the board of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Although Lewis often gave substantial gifts to artistic and educational organizations, he also had a reputation for — often forcefully — insisting that such organizations be financially accountable and financially sound; in 2002, Lewis said he would no longer give to Case or Cleveland's University Circle neighborhood or to any Cleveland Charities due to poor civic and organizational leadership and management. While he did restrict Cleveland giving, he did not follow through completely on that threat.

Lewis was an advocate of taxing and regulating the use and sale of marijuana and was one of the main financial backers of the campaign to legalize the use of marijuana for medical use in the United States. In January 2000, Lewis was arrested and charged in New Zealand for possession of marijuana. Lewis pleaded guilty to three charges and paid a substantial fine, though under New Zealand law he was not required to serve time in jail or prison. According to his lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, Lewis used the marijuana on the advice of his doctor for pain relief after the partial amputation of his leg in 1998.

Personal life

In 1955, Lewis married Toby Devan.

Lewis died of a heart attack at his home in Coconut Grove, Florida, on November 23, 2013, twelve days after his 80th birthday. He was interred at Mayfield Cemetery in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. His net worth at the time of his death was $1.25 billion.

References

  • "FPO chief explains tragic ending" by Daniel Chang and Gail Meadows, The Miami Herald, May 25, 2003
  • "Who owns Cleveland?" by Thomas Kelly, The Cleveland Free Times, March 10, 2004