Peter Lewis, Philanthropist
Peter B. Lewis was not a household name, but Progressive Auto Insurance, the company he ran for 35 yea 
rs certainly is. Peter died on November 23rd at the age of 80. Beside his extreme success, what made Peter so special?
He was one of the 122 billionaires who signed the Giving Pledge promoted by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
The Giving Pledge is an audacious and ambitious project on the part of the Gateses and Buffett to invite (cajole?) the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to commit to giving more than half their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes either during their lifetime or at death. It is not a pooled i 
nvestment approach nor does it favor a particular charitable sector. The idea is to steer the philanthropic discussion among people of means, thereby drawing more folks into philanthropy, and to lead by example. Families and individuals who make the pledge do so publicly, issuing a statement explaining their decision. It is a moral, not a legal mandate. Basically, the Gateses and Buffett are trying to lead wealthy donors into the marketplace of philanthropic impulses, without putting any specific restrictions or conditions on those impulses. It is a fascinating story about which I have blogged before. The whole thing started in June 2010 with 40 signatories. When I first blogged about it (4/26/2012) there were 81 participants. This past February there were 105 and today there are 122. Since inception, 6 of the signatories, including Peter Lewis, have passed on. For more information, check out this recent story on 60 Minutes.
Getting back to Lewis – he was quite a character, and I don’t mean that necessarily in a good way! Just yesterday, one of our clients told me that he knew Lewis personally and, although he was very smart he was also a real S-O-B. From what I have read of him, I don’t doubt it. Lewis’ approach as a philanthropist was apparently the same as his approach as CEO – tough, no-nonsense, take no prisoners. He once told the New York Times that at Progressive he had “fired more Harvard Business School graduates than most other insurance companies have hired.” (And you thought fellow billionaire Donald Trump (NOT a member of the Giving Pledge) was a tough guy….) Similarly, when the charities Lewis supported did not do things the way he liked, he was not above taking his marbles and going home. Ask the folks at the Guggenheim Museum, where he donated $77 million over 11 years before resigning as the board chairman in 2005 over the strategic direction of the museum. Or the board at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where Progressive is based. He once staged a year-long boycott of cultural and charitable groups in Cleveland because of his discontent with the progress and rising cost of a Frank Gehry-designed building he was underwriting on campus. Although he ended up contributing $36.9 million to complete the building, it was not without causing plenty of angst in town, even demanding the resignation of the entire board!
To which Lewis replied:
“I have no mandate to give a dime to anybody.”
According to the New York Times, Lewis has already given away about half of his $1 billion estate to various organizations such as the Center for American Progress and the ACLU. Lewis’ alma mater, Princeton University, has received more than $220 million over his lifetime.
One of the fun things about the Giving Pledge website is that it publishes the members’ statements about philanthropy, giving the reader an opportunity to better understand the pledgers’ motivation. To paraphrase Lewis’ thoughts on the subject:
“Taking the Giving Pledge comes naturally for me. I began giving with nickels to my Temple when my father explained to me that giving to help others is a Jewish tradition. Those nickels, contributed to nonprofits over the years, now total nearly $500 million. Having already given away nearly half my net worth, I plan to keep on going…The catch phrases that drive my life and philanthropy include: Enjoy every day; Think outside the lines; Risk, learn and grow; Ideas are easy, execution pays off; Constantly improve; Admit mistakes, fix them and move on; Problems are opportunities; Hard work makes winners.”
Lewis was obviously not a warm, fuzzy kind of guy. Many of those who knew him couldn’t stand him. Colleagues, employees, charitable organizations – all may have quaked in his presence. But at least he gave back and for that we are grateful. RIP, Peter Lewis.
