Lex Luthor was raised in a small town in Kansas, on the farm run by his parents, Lionel and Lillian. He was like every other teenage boy that just didn't fit in. He wanted to play baseball (just like his dad), but he wrote for the school newspaper instead. He wanted the girl next door, but he met Clark instead.
Clark Kent was in Smallville long enough to change Lex's life, and wait out his father's, before returning to Metropolis to take over KentCorp, and the city. The world would be next. Lex followed him soon after, though they didn't have much to say to each other anymore. They both had secrets they needed to keep.
But Clark was everywhere, in every part of Metropolis, and on the cover of the Daily Planet every week. He was sliding further and further away, and Lex couldn't hang onto him anymore. He had Superman do it instead.