From Manila to Wall Street: An Immigrant’s Journey with America’s First Black Tycoon

Photos: Top, US-Philippines Society Executive Director Hank Hendrickson, President Emeritus Amb John F. Maisto, and author Rene “Butch” Meily at the Washington DC Book Launch, Willard InterContinental. Middle photo, participants Amb John Maisto, Co-chair Amb John Negroponte, founding director Amb Thomas Hubbard, directors Hedy Thomas, Roberto Llames and Leo Canseco joined by members and a diverse Washington audience. Lower photo, book cover “From Manila to Wall Street: An Immigrant’s Journey with America’s First Black Tycoon.” 19, May 2025.

“From Manila to Wall Street” is a story of how two people from very different backgrounds came together in pursuit of the American Dream. Butch described Lewis’s determined climb from the streets of Baltimore through Harvard Law School to success in the corporate takeover era of the 1980’s.

Butch’s own story takes the reader back to the Philippines in the martial law era of the 1970’s, details his decision to pursue graduate studies in the U.S. and then move up to compete in the grit and hustle of New York City, eventually landing in the top tier of the PR world as Vice President for Communications in Lewis’s food conglomerate TLC Beatrice.

When fortunes and circumstances changed in the decades ahead, and after much personal reflection, Butch moved from Wall Street back to Manila, trading his tailored business suits for typhoon weather gear, and gave up corporate jet flights across the Atlantic for island hopping across the Philippine archipelago. He was founding president of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, which became an internationally recognized leader in privage sector-led disaster response, and a strong partner of the US-Philippines Society.

Butch continues to devote his time and energy leading PDRF in resilience-building in the Philippines, one of the world’s most vulnerable countries facing threats from climate change and natural disasters.

PDRF is chaired by Manuel V. Pangilinan and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala; honorary chair is Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.

The May 19 book presentation was made possible by support from Juan Tuason and Loida Lewis.

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