Peter Lewis, who shepherded Progressive Corp. from a small-time operation to one of the largest auto insurers in the country and later became the billionaire backer of marijuana legalization, died Saturday. He was 80.
Philanthropic adviser Jennifer Frutchy said Lewis died at his home in Coconut Grove, Fla.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, at The Temple-Tifereth Israel University Circle, 1855 Ansel Road. Interment at Mayfield Cemetery. Family will receive friends following the internment until 7 p.m. at the Peter B. Lewis Building/Weatherhead School of Management, 11119 Bellflower Road in Cleveland.
Progressive President and CEO Glenn Renwick said the company owes its growth and its culture of openness to Lewis. He said Lewis' caring and honesty are "bedrock" values of the company.
"The history of Progressive is very much the history that Peter Lewis laid down," Renwick said. A willingness to take risks and constantly learn and grow are principles that can be traced to Lewis, he added.
"He really was a special person, there's no doubt about that," Renwick said.
Barbara R. Snyder, Case Western Reserve University president, said she's "saddened" by Lewis' death.
"Peter B. Lewis pushed the boundaries of conventional thinking in everything that he did, and left the world better for his passions," Snyder said in a statement issued to the Cleveland Jewish News. "He revolutionized the insurance industry, and then went on to help shape the academic and cultural experiences of thousands through his philanthropy. We at Case Western Reserve are deeply saddened by his passing, and profoundly grateful for his contributions to our university and the broader Cleveland community."
David Lazar worked for Progressive in its early years, joining the firm in 1965 and rising to the position of senior vice president of corporate development. The first master of business administration (Harvard Business School, 1963) Peter Lewis ever hired, Lazar left Progressive in 1976 to become president of Capitol American Life Insurance, another specialty insurance agency based in Cleveland. He now works for Scherzer International, a Los Angeles firm that does background investigations for corporate clients.
Although Lazar went into public accounting after graduating from Harvard Business School, he soon discovered that field didn’t fit him, so when Lewis offered him a job, he jumped ship from Arthur Andersen; Lewis had just taken over Progressive and was Lazar’s first real boss.
"He was high energy, was enjoyable to be with, he was easy to work with, and he was someone that I felt I could count on to do the right thing," Lazar said Nov. 24. "He was truly a tremendous and positive influence on me because he was the first person I really worked for and he taught me some values that I think I carried forth – the importance of integrity, of hard work, having high expectations, the Golden Rule, the importance of planning and thinking through."
Lazar, who lives on Cleveland's East Side, noted that during his stint with Progressive, the company grew at an annual compound rate of 35 percent.
Lewis became chief executive officer of Progressive in 1965, built from the company his father co-founded in 1937. Lewis held the leadership post for 35 years, during which Progressive – and Lewis' fortune – steadily grew. In 2006, Forbes calculated his net worth at $1.4 billion.
Lewis turned his wealth into support for a number of progressive causes, including strong support for marijuana law reform that began after he used it following a leg amputation. Lewis helped bankroll marijuana-related causes in Ohio, Washington and Massachusetts.
In a 2011 interview with Forbes Magazine, Lewis said he first tried marijuana at age 39. He said he found it to be "better than scotch" and later relied on it for pain management.
"I don't believe that laws against things that people do regularly, like safe and responsible use of marijuana, make any sense," he told Forbes. "Everything that has been done to enforce these laws has had a negative effect, with no results."
Lewis also spent time as a trustee of the Guggenheim Museum and stepped down in 2005, saying he saying disagreed with the institution's focus on international expansion. He had been a leading benefactor of the museum, donating tens of millions of dollars.
For a time Lewis largely stopped giving to local Cleveland-area concerns, saying there was little cooperation among civic leaders or public development. Last year, however, he donated $5 million to the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Plain Dealer reported. At the time, he said he made the donation because a development plan that impressed him in 2004 had met his expectations.
Lewis also gave generously to his alma mater, Princeton University. He donated more than $220 million to the school, where he also served as a trustee.
Lewis spoke at Case Western Reserve University’s 2013 commencement ceremony on May 19.
He also received an honorary degree from the university on what marked the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Weatherhead School of Management that bears his name. Lewis and architect Frank O. Gehry, his longtime friend, worked together on the Peter B. Lewis Building at CWRU, a project funded by Lewis' $36.9 million lead gift.
Lewis, who grew up in Cleveland Heights, also appeared at CWRU’s graduation ceremony in 2008, Snyder’s first ceremony as leader of the university. That year, Lewis received the inaugural President’s Award for Visionary Achievement.
Case Western Reserve is the alma mater of Lewis’ mother, father, sister and ex-wife, Toby Devan Lewis, as well as several earlier generations of his family, according to a previous CJN report.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, at The Temple-Tifereth Israel University Circle, 1855 Ansel Road. Interment at Mayfield Cemetery. Family will receive friends following the internment until 7 p.m. at the Peter B. Lewis Building/Weatherhead School of Management, 11119 Bellflower Road in Cleveland.
