BILLIONAIRE CANNABIS SMUGGLER UNMASKED

The American billionaire who fought a long legal battle to keep his name
suppressed after facing drug charges is now revealed as Ohio insurance king
Peter Lewis.

Described in a 1995 Fortune magazine article as a "functioning pothead",
Lewis, 66, gives away tens of millions of dollars each year.

But not even his huge wealth could preserve his anonymity. The Court of
Appeal judgment ending his name suppression came into force at 2.15pm today.

Lewis was granted name suppression in January after he was discharged
without conviction in Otahuhu District Court on three charges of importing
more than 100g of cannabis.

An eight-month battle to maintain suppression followed but was lost
yesterday when the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling in favour of
the NZ Herald.

Lewis is chairman, president and chief executive officer of the giant
Progressive Corporation, an Ohio-based, motor vehicle insurance company.

Progressive was started in 1937 by Lewis' father and a partner. Lewis took
over in 1965 when staff numbered 100. Today Progressive employs 14,000
people and has annual sales of $US4.8 billion ($NZ11 billion). Lewis is the
visionary behind the success story and owns 15 per cent of the company,
giving him an estimated wealth of $US1.3 billion.

Though he could not be identified in New Zealand, Lewis' arrest and name
were reported in the United States.

Despite his position as head of a major company the news did not appear to
surprise or concern market analysts.

"Frankly, no one is particularly surprised. He's always made his feelings on
the issue known," Blair Sanford, an analyst with San Francisco securities
company Cochran, Caronia Securities was reported as saying at the time.

Lewis has long been a colourful character - the Fortune magazine profile was
headed "Sex. Reefer. And Auto Insurance!"

It was there that a colleague was quoted as saying: "He is a functioning
pothead."

He is known to donate to several reform groups aimed at legalising marijuana
for medical use.

Fortune magazine also reports that when he was asked by a prospective
investor about his health he replied: "Well, I don't really know because I
don't believe in doctors. But No 1, I feel fine. No 2, I swim a mile every
day. And No 3, I'm single so I get laid all the time."

Lewis, who is divorced, came to New Zealand to visit his daughter, her
husband and children, who moved here last year, and also watched the
America's Cup.

Known only as "L" in the courts before today, Lewis needs no introduction in
American circles of business, arts or philanthropy.

Last year he gave $28.8 million to the Weatherhead School of Management at
Case Western Reserve University for construction of the Peter B Lewis
Campus.

A 1955 graduate of Princeton, he also gave $55 million to his old
university, $35 million of it to be used on a pioneering institute for the
study of genomes.

Lewis is a major patron of the arts, and Progressive's corporate art
collection, of 3500 pieces, has been rated as one of the top five in the
United States.

He helped create the Cleveland Centre for Contemporary Art, which features a
gallery bearing his name, and he is on the board of trustees of the
Guggenheim Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Lewis has also given $1 million to help establish a contemporary art museum
at Princeton, and in 1995 he gave $50 million to the Guggenheim.