Butch Meily on Life with Billionaire Reginald Lewis — and the Personal Price of Ambition

Are the tradeoffs that highly successful executives make — prioritizing wealth and recognition over family and a more grounded life — truly worth it?

That’s the central question that prompted Butch Meily to write From Manila to Wall Street, a memoir reflecting on his time nearly 40 years ago as a close aide to the brilliant but often brash Reginald F. Lewis, the first African-American to build a billion-dollar company.

Lewis was a trailblazing businessman and investor who, in the 1980s, bulldozed through racial barriers. Financier and philanthropist Michael Milken described him as “the Jackie Robinson of American business.”

Although Lewis died of a brain tumor at age 50 in 1993, the actionable insights gleaned from Lewis’s business life remain relevant to this day, chief among them his motto: “Keep going no matter what.”

Lewis reached extraordinary heights, bringing Meily along with him. Nevertheless, the lives of both men serve as a cautionary tale of the price each paid for their achievements. Their enduring legacy: build boldly, lead wisely — but never forget to live.

[A native of the Philippines, Meily currently serves as president of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, a private-sector disaster management organization. Earlier in his career, he worked in public relations for both Burson-Marsteller and Howard J. Rubenstein Associates.]

Monday Morning Radio is hosted by the father-son duo of Dean and Maxwell Rotbart.

Photo: Rene S. “Butch” Meily, From Manila to Wall Street
Posted: June 2, 2025
Monday Morning Run Time: 47:30
Episode: 13.48

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