Ric Lewis is a British-American businessman. He is a founding partner of Tristan Capital Partners, a British property investment firm, and its predecessor, Curzon Global Partners (1998–2008). He is also the founder and chairman of a registered charity, The Black Heart Foundation. Lewis also serves on numerous corporate and community and charity boards in the UK. He ranked first in the

Powerlist The Powerlist is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The Powerlist is not lim ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, an annual list of the UK's most influential people with African or Afro-Caribbean heritage.

Early life and career

Ric Lewis was born in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

, United States, to African American parents. He attended public high school, was class president and at 6'10" also played on the basketball team. After high school, he attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

to study Spanish and Economics and later

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. Lewis was a partner and senior managing director of

AEW Capital Management AEW Capital Management (AEW) is an American real estate investment firm headquartered in Boston. The firm is the real estate asset management platform of Natixis Investment Managers. In 2022, the firm was ranked by PERE (under Private Equity I ...

, a Boston investment management business, where he led the company’s expansion into Europe and moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1998. After emigrating to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to found Curzon Global Partners, a property investment company that was a part of AEW he left AEW to become a founding partner of another London property investment company, ''Tristan Capital Partners'', in 2009. By 2019 Tristan Capital Partners was the largest black-owned business in the UK, with over £14billion under management in the investment firm. In addition, he is a non executive director of

Legal & General Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...

. Lewis is involved in a number of advocacy and charitable projects. He is the Chairman of UK/US registered charity the Black Heart Foundation, which he founded in 2009. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting initiatives that improve educational benefits for under-resourced young people and providing opportunity to those who are otherwise denied it. Each year, it provides several educational scholarships to young people in need in the UK and abroad. At present, the Foundation has awarded over 850 Black Heart Scholarships at over 160 different, universities, schools, alternative academic institutions and training programmes throughout the UK and US. In addition, he is a trustee of the

Royal National Children's Foundation The Royal National Children's Foundation (RNCF) is a British charity which helps children facing abuse, neglect or trauma at home by providing them with the opportunity to move into a supported education environment. The RNCF currently enables near ...

. He was governor of

Ark King Solomon Academy King Solomon Academy is a non-selective, non-denominational, mixed all-through school within the national academy programme, located in Lisson Grove, in the City of Westminster. It occupies the site of the former Rutherford School. History ...

, and a patron of Eastside Young Leaders Academy. He was a trustee of

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

Teach First Teach First (also Teach First Cymru) is a social enterprise registered as a charity which aims to address educational disadvantage in England and Wales. Teach First coordinates an employment-based teaching training programme whereby participa ...

and of International Inspiration, and a director of

London First BusinessLDN (spoken as Business London) is a not for profit advocacy group with a membership composed of leaders of businesses in London, United Kingdom. , it represented around 175 London based businesses. Its stated aim is "to make London t ...

and the London Regional Council of The Prince’s Trust. In addition, he is a trustee and board member of The Earthshot Prize. In the United States he is a trustee of Dartmouth College and he was on the board of visitors for the

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. From 2 ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He served as Board of Visitors, Rockefeller Center for International and Public Policy, Dartmouth College; Board Director, Boys & Girls Club of Boston; Board Director, I Have a Dream, Boston; Board Director, International House of Blues Foundation; Trustee, Hyams Foundation Inc.; Overseer, The Judge Baker Children’s Center, Boston and Non-Executive Director, Innovision LLC He was a director of

Grassroot Soccer Grassroot Soccer (GRS) is an adolescent health organization that leverages the power of soccer to equip young people with the life-saving information, services, and mentorship they need to live healthier lives. History Grassroot Soccer became a re ...

in South Africa, and of the Smurfit School of Business of

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. In March 2025, the House of Commons' Treasury Committee approved Lewis' appointment as the Chair of the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

. He had been the government's preferred candidate. As of October, 2020, Lewis was taking part in a 12-week financial podcast, 'The Mentor', where he had teamed up with David Whitely to mentor three young people. Each of the young people gets £5000 and an hour per week with Lewis. The Mentor is a non-profit podcast and all funds raised go to the Black Heart Foundation. In February 2021, Lewis was awarded the Urban Land Institute (ULI) European Leader Award for his contribution to urban development and real estate, along with his civic and social endeavours as part of the Black Heart Foundation.

Recognition

2019 - First Place, in addition, Lewis was ranked second in the Powerlist 2018 and 2017. *10th PERE Global Awards, Industry Figure of the Year: Europe. * Boston Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Leaders Award (1998). *2021 Urban Land Institute (ULI) European Leader Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Ric Living people British businesspeople 1962 births Dartmouth College alumni Harvard Business School alumni People from Salem, Massachusetts