Billionaire investor Joe 'The Boxer' Lewis facing losses of $1bn in Bear Stearns crisis

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He is stupendously rich, lives a life of luxury in the Bahamas and has made a name for himself investing in risky bets, which almost invariably net him a fortune.

But last night, the billionaire investor Joe Lewis, who controls Tottenham Hotspur football club and is one of the world's richest men, was left facing losses of close to $1bn after taking a terrific hit in the recent credit crisis.

Nicknamed 'the Boxer', both for his no-nonsense approach and in honour of the world heavyweight champion of the same name, Lewis bought a 9.6 per cent stake in struggling bank Bear Stearns last year.

Believing at the time that he was getting the shares on the cheap and that the sub-prime crisis had bottomed out it now looks as though the famous investor's luck has finally run out.

If rumours that he sold his stake in the ailing bank on Friday turn out to be false Lewis will have seen his shares plummet in value from $88.80 per share to $3.67 yesterday after the bank was bought by JP Morgan in a $2-a-share offer.

Lewis has lost $981m (£490m) as a result of his 9.36 per cent stake in the bank.

He is now attempting to block the JP Morgan takeover and will attempt to leverage support among other major shareholders, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Lewis made his fortune alongside fellow investor George Soros betting on sterling's exit from the European exchange-rate mechanism on Black Wednesday in 1992.

Lewis, who dropped out of school aged 15 to work in his father's pub in London's East End, is an avid golfer and a shareholder in London soccer club Tottenham Hotspur.

He counts golf professionals Ernie Els and Tiger Woods as business partners and Sean Connery is a friend and neighbour in his Bahamas resort.

Forbes magazine last year estimated that Lewis is the 369th wealthiest person in the world.