Washington D.C. – On May 19, 2025, the Filipino Author Butch Meily presented his memoir in front of a group of attendees at Willard Hotel in Washington D.C., which is located on the bustling Massachusetts avenue. Born in Manila, the Philippines, Meily narrates a heartfelt journey of the pursuit of the American dream – from a first-generation immigrant to a financial guru in the turbulent world of Wall Street.
His book highlights his rise to the inner circle position of the legendary African American Wall Street Tycoon Reginald Lewis. This event was sponsored by the US-Philippines Society as one of the key activities for the 2025 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Meily left the Philippines in the Martial Law era of the 1970s. He decided to pursue graduate studies in the U.S. After graduating, the beats and waves of the finance world deeply attracted him. He moved to the very heart of the finance world – Wall Street, the center of New York – to pursue his American dream. While New York City is the hub of global economy and finance, it is also the world’s most diverse place – the vibrant clash of different races, cultures, and values. His book emphasizes the story of two people who come from two distinct backgrounds and pursue the American Dream. In the book, he described Lewis’s journey as the determined figure who rose from Baltimore to become a financial tycoon in the 1980s.
Kirkus Reviews describes Meily as “No one is closer to his heart than Reginald Lewis, at one time the richest Black businessman in America, with whom the author worked for six years. Working closely with Lewis during the Reagan era of deregulation and corporate extravagance, the author’s account illuminates the life of one of the period’s most well-known, ostentatious, and aggressive businessmen.”
His career in the finance world was marked by decades of triumphs and setbacks. Meily eventually landed his position in the top tier of the PR world. He became the Vice President for Communications in Lewis’ food conglomerate TLC Beatrice.
After these achievements, he moved back to his motherland, the Philippines. He decided to do something for the land that once fed him. He founded the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, one of the nation’s first private organizations that handles disaster response and related issues. Later, he became an internationally recognized leader in private sector-led disaster response. Meily is also a strong partner of the US-Philippines Society.