Former Tottenham owner Joe Lewis to be handed pardon by Donald Trump after pleading guilty to insider trading

The 88-year-old handed control of the north London club over to the Lewis Family Trust in 2022, shortly before reports of his insider trading emerged.

Despite Mr Trump’s decision to pardon the billionaire, Mr Lewis will not return to his role at Tottenham, with his daughter Vivienne, his son Charles and Nick Beucher, the husband of Vivienne’s daughter, now heading the Premier League side.

Mr Lewis’ pardon is expected to be announced later today, the Telegraph reports.

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Reacting to the news, Mr Lewis said: “I am pleased all of this is now behind me, and I can enjoy retirement and watch as my family and extended family continue to build our businesses based on the quality and pursuit of excellence that has become our trademark.”

A source close to the family added: “Joe and the Lewis family are extremely grateful for this pardon and would like to thank President Trump for taking this action.

“Over his long business career, Joe has been a visionary, creating businesses across the world which multiple generations of his family are now taking forward. There is so much more to the Joe Lewis story than this one event.”

Mr Lewis and his company, ENIC, had been subject to mass fan protests towards the end of his time at Spurs, with supporters citing a lack of on-field success and investment in the first team.

Since taking over the reins, Vivienne has been a regular attendee at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and has announced an injection of £100m into the team.

Spurs have had a stuttering start to the season, despite sitting fifth in the Premier League table.