J. Bruce Llewellyn

James Bruce Llewellyn (July 16, 1927 – April 7, 2010) was an American businessman who co-founded the 100 Black Men of America, a social and philanthropic organization, in 1963. In 1985, he and a group of business partners, among them Julius Erving, Bill Cosby, and Shahara Ahmad-Llewellyn, bought a majority share of the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

Early life Llewellyn was born in Harlem in Manhattan, the son of a Jamaican mother and a Guyanese father. Both of his parents came to the United States in 1921. After two years the family moved to Westchester County, settling in White Plains, in a predominantly white middle-class environment, though Llewellyn went to integrated schools. He worked in his father's bar and restaurant and sold magazines and Fuller Brush products. In 1943, Llewellyn joined the US Army, where he served as a first lieutenant.

Family Llewellyn's sister, Dorothy Cropper, became a judge on the New York State Court of Claims. His middle daughter, Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, was married to Tom Clancy. His wife of 30 years, Shahara Ahmad-Llewellyn, was vice chair of Philly Coke, serves as vice chair of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and was appointed by Michael Bloomberg to the NYC Commission on Women's issues. His youngest daughter, Jaylaan Ahmad-Llewellyn, is a Harvard graduate and founder of Bluhammock Music and Bluhorse Clothes. His mother, Nessa F. Llewellyn, a Jamaican immigrant, lived to be 102. Llewellyn was the brother-in-law of Shahara's sister Sharifa Alkhateeb. He was also an uncle by marriage to Suzanne de Passe through his second wife Jacqueline.

Education City University of New York, BS New York Law School, JD (1960) Columbia University, MBA New York University, MPA

Career Harlem liquor store, 1952–1956, proprietor New York County district-attorney's office, 1958–1960, student assistant Evans, Berger, & Llewellyn, 1962–1965 Housing and Redevelopment Board of New York City, 1964–1965 Small Business Development Corporation, 1965–1967, regional director New York City Housing and Development Administration, 1967–1969, Deputy Commissioner of Housing Fedco Food Stores, 1969–1984, president Freedom National Bank in Harlem, 1971-, board member, 1973-1975 chairman Overseas Private Investment Corporation, 1977–1981, head Dickstein, Shapiro, & Morin, 1982–1983, partner Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company, 1985–2008, chairman and chief executive officer WKBW-TV, 1986–1989, chairman

Awards Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Julius Erving, 1993 Among Black Enterprise magazine's top black business owners, 2001 Inducted into the Black Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame, 2004 President's Medal of Honor, New York University, 2004 Recipient of more than ten honorary doctorate degrees

Death Llewellyn died of renal failure at the age 82, in New York City.