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Things are looking up, but only slightly, for Bahama billionaire Joe Lewis.

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JPMorgan Chase today upped its offer for Bear Stearns from the bargain-basement price of $2 a share to $10 share. The increase amounts to an additional $97 million for Lewis, who holds 8.35% of the company stock.

Yet even at the higher price, Lewis will lose mightily. Over the past year, he has bought up Bear Stearns shares at an average price of $104. At $10 per share, his losses would exceed $1 billion.

Like many stockholders, Lewis was outraged by the initial deal. In documents filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he promised that his companies would “take whatever action that they deem necessary and appropriate to protect the value of their investment.”

The Bear Stearns bailout and the resulting shareholder outcry have combined to bring unwanted attention to Lewis and his financial empire. As his daughter Vivienne once explained, “He doesn’t like to talk to people. It aggravates him.”

Lewis started building his fortune as a teenager, when he left school to work for his father’s London catering firm. He made millions when he sold the business in 1979, then moved to the Bahamas, where he made millions more in currency trading. He oversees a complex of companies centered around a holding company, the Tavistock Group.

His interests include land development, life sciences, energy, restaurants such as the Napa Valley Grille and the Alcatraz Brewing Company, and sports, including the Tottenham Hotspur soccer team. His company organizes the annual Tavistock Cup golf tournament, scheduled to be played today and tomorrow, with his friend Tiger Woods among the competitors.

Lewis hasn’t yet publicly responded to JPMorgan’s revised offer, and the SEC listed no new filings from him by the close of the business day. Maybe he chose to spend the day concentrating on golf.

• Cayne reported leaving CEO job at Bear Stearns – January 8, 2008
• NY Fed bails out Bear Stearns – March 15, 2008
• The charity work of Bear Stearns’ Alan Schwartz – January 9, 2008
• Mortgage mess sinks Wall Street exec – August 6, 2007
• Bear’s Cayne holds cards close to vest – November 1, 2007
• SEC chairman defends record – June 27, 2007
• Bearish on Mr. Brooks – June 28, 2007
• ‘Free’ tutoring is big business for Sylvan – November 2, 2007
• Meyerson leaves Accredited – August 31, 2007
• Yucaipa may pay Bill Clinton $20M – January 24, 2008