He quickly builds relationships and communicates well at all levels. We want a broad audience, but we never want to forget our mandate: to give black audiences a full range of black entertainment and information, Robert L. Johnson, the founder and president of Black Entertainment Television (BET), told Christopher C. Williams in the New York Times. He began cultivating valuable political and business connections that later helped him bankroll his vision of creating a Black-owned cable television company. atkins@NJHI.org. Toll Free: (800) 494, Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. Johnsons first employment came from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting which took him on as a press secretary. He was an honors student in high school. [4][12] BET first turned a profit in 1985 and it became the first black-controlled company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991. That speaks to his enormous grace and understanding. The RLJ Companies is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Robert L. Johnson, in full Robert Louis Johnson, (born April 8, 1946, Hickory, Mississippi, U.S.), American businessman, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), and the first African American majority owner of a major professional sports team in the United States.. Johnson grew up in Freeport, Illinois, the 9th of 10 children. I can hold my own.". He is a Black entrepreneur, media magnate, executive, philanthropist, and investor. Robert Johnson Aftermarket Sales Manager at Textron Aviation/ A&P Technician, BS Business Studies, Selected 2021 Textron Aviation Top Talent, 2022 NBAA Top 40 . By 1982, after two consecutive years of profit loss, BET could no longer survive without additional support, which it found in a new partner, Taft Broadcasting Company. Johnson married Sheila Johnson in 1969. It was more about coming of age at a time when the country was opening doors to Black Americans. 4254. Hugh Sloane -- London. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. All Rights Reserved. Thomas Baltimore, Jr., chairman, president, and CEO of Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PK) and Leslie Hale, president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ), share their personal reflections on Robert Johnson as a mentor and colleague. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, the foundation focuses on access to health care, public health, health equity, leadership and training, and changing systems to address barriers to health. He also used African American talent by hiring executives, producers, and on-air performers. Encyclopedia.com. Johnsons other ventures included Our Stories Films, which he founded in 2006 with the film producers Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein. For the first six years BET lost money, and Johnson sought new investors. And at the same time, you have an obligation to live up to the tenets of society to make the whole community better. When Tom Baltimore and I bought our first six hotels, overnight we became the largest Black-owned hotel company in the country. He also went on to say "I make a joke about Obama doing drugs [and it's] 'Oh my God, a black man tearing down another black man. Even though the airline business seemed to be a dead end for Johnson, he did not let it interfere with the numerous other ventures he had on his plate. The Johnson & Johnson Foundation is a registered charitable organization that reflects the commitment of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies to keeping people well at every age and every stage of life by blending heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Memberships: Board member of Cable TV Advertising Bureau and Black College Educational Network; National Cable Television Association (NCTA), board of directors, 1982-84. This monthly newsletter covers research news and opportunities from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. On September 30, 2021, Knight Foundation released findings from a study assessing the representation of investment firms owned by women or members of racial or ethnic minority groups in the United States among investment firms used by the country's top 55 charitable foundations in terms of total asset size. AMC has received warrants to purchase at least 20 million shares or 50.1% of the company. In an effort to keep costs low Johnson took advantage of another void, the lack of African American artists appearing on MTV. Retrieved June 29, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/johnson-robert-l-1946-0, Chief executive officer, Black Entertainment Television. Without capital, you cannot create a business that gets to scale, and therefore you cannot compete. As a lobbyist for the nascent cable industry from 1976 to 1979, he noticed that the large African American TV audience was going unrecognized and untapped. In addition to videos, black collegiate sports, news, and reruns of the Cosby Show, which comprise most of BETs format, Johnson is developing more original programming, including late night talk shows, public affairs series, one-act plays, a sports phone-in show, and teen magazine shows as well as live in-studio concerts and soap opera updates. https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/johnson-robert-l-1946, Burgess, Marjorie "Johnson, Robert L. She is CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts and owner of Salamander Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor. After attempting to purchase a National Basketball Association franchise throughout the 1990s, Johnson was approved as the owner of an expansion team in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2003 (the citys former team, the Hornets, had just moved to New Orleans, Louisiana). . In 2006, Johnson founded Our Stories Films with partner Harvey Weinstein. Malone agreed, and on January 25, 1980, BET made its debut on cable television. The new team, called the Bobcats, began competition in 2004. He had jobs as a public affairs officer for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, director of communications for the Washington, D.C., office of the National Urban League, press aide to Sterling Tucker, the Washington, D.C., councilman, and press secretary to Walter E. Fauntroy, the congressional delegate from the District of Columbia. Three years later, he earned a masters degree in public administration, graduating sixth in his class. We have the power to transform those policies and drive improvements to achieve health and racial equity. Yet Johnson does not always seek publicity for his donations for as he told the Los Angeles Times, I dont want to be seen as a hero to younger people. Racism brings it squarely to you, and thats when your self-esteem has to take over and say, This is not something Im going to tolerate. The key question is: How do you calibrate when you encounter those things? At the age of 12, Johnson began a job delivering the Rockford Morning Star. Hughes, Alan, "Slam Dunk!," Black Enterprise, March 2003, pp. Discovering that blacks viewed television 50 percent more than the rest of the American public, investors pumped a record-breaking $743 million into creating ads aimed at black buyers. Johnson grew up in Freeport, Illinois, the ninth of 10 chil dren. Robert L. Johnson. As of 2013, Johnson was a member of the board of directors for RLJ Lodging Trust, RLJ Entertainment, Inc., KB Home, Lowe's Companies, Inc., Strayer Education, Think Finance, Inc., NBA Board of Governors, The Business Council, and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture. You have to have an ability to engage people to believe in you, while being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Awards; Presidential Award, NCTA, 1982; Image Award, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 1982; Pioneer Award, Capitol Press Club, 1984; Business of the Year Award, Washington, DC, Chamber of Commerce, 1985. The company focuses on family-friendly movies intended for African American audiences. Watch Robert Johnson's Interview with the Television . Its not only good business, its morally right. In 2003 he expressed interest in purchasing the Montreal Expos, a baseball team. Robert Johnson After Market Sales Manager at Textron Aviation/ A&P Technician, BS Business Studies, Selected 2021 Textron Aviation Top Talent, 2022 NBAA Top 40 Under 40. If they cant, put them in the queue for other opportunities that may come along. The same thing goes for minority-owned businessesbefore you hire a business to do something, interview at least two minority-owned business. The initial ratings for the station were low, but Johnson continued to improve the lineup, adding talk shows, sports from traditionally black colleges, and most importantly, music videos in 1982, which he received for free from record companies. The Johnson & Johnson Foundation is working towards a world where basic, quality health services are available to everyone, everywhere by supporting and championing the people on the front lines who are at the heart of delivering care. As of 2016, Wooden was pursuing an international business-management doctorate in Paris. It did not exist in television because television was pretty much a medium that was distributed in local markets, except for the networks, which at the time BET started were principally only three: ABC, CBS, and NBC. Miller, Robert G., "A Business Titan: Redefining Black Entrepreneurial Success," Black Collegian, October 2000, pp. 2023 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. To me, coming up with a charter without a mandate with an accountable requirement to the charter is a waste of time. REITs historically have delivered competitive total returns, based on high, steady dividend income and long-term capital appreciation. Nareit recently launched its Dividends Through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DDEI) CEO Council, representing every sector and subsector of the industry. Encyclopedia.com. Johnson continued to be the companys chairman and CEO for several years before leaving BET to lead the RLJ Companies. People created laws and policies that perpetuate health injustices. I built a music conservatory. Most REITs trade on major stock exchanges, and they offer a number of benefits to investors. In 2000 he started a plan to create an airline company called DC Airlines, which would service a regional area around the District of Columbia, and more importantly, be the first airlines to be owned by an African American. Robert Louis Johnson [2] (born April 8, 1946 is American entrepreneur, media magnate, executive, philanthropist, and investor.He is the co-founder of BET, which was acquired by Viacom in 2001 . He spent the majority of his childhood in Freeport, Illinois. Contemporary Black Biography. Its just changing a behavior and getting those large corporations to say, We want our Black employees and other low-wage workers to stop cashing out and put this money into savings.. In aninterview with Erik Spanberg that appeared in The Business Journal Johnson said, "I realized if I want to make some money, I'd better work for myself" (March 28, 2003). Some people call it systemic racism, some people just call it fear. Thats probably the most critical thing of being able to accumulate a number of business opportunitiesyou must be able to attract talented people who believe in your vision, who believe that you are willing to work as hard as they are. Burgess, Marjorie; Zerbonia, Ralph "Johnson, Robert L. 1946 "I had very positive dialogue with president-elect Trump". Phone: (202) 608-2000. No business is an island. The REITs predecessor entity, RLJ Development, was co-founded by Baltimore and Johnson in 2000. The WITH Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are inviting proposals that support projects fostering health and healthcare systems transformation for older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in communities of color, centering the goals, perspectives, and needs of this community. He is the co-founder of BET, which was acquired by Viacom in 2001. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) formed the Commission to Build a Healthier America to investigate why Americans arent as healthy as they could be and to look outside the health care system for ways to improve health for all. ." Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In anything you do, youve got to start off believing in yourself and that youre delivering a service or a product to someone who is going to treat you fairly, respect you, and compensate you for what youre doing. In 1991, BET became the first African American-owned company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Advertising revenues multiplied four times to $29.9 million. Johnson formed relationships with record labels to promote on BET videos by rhythm and blues and hip-hop artists. We were able to raise capital because of my connections and Toms management skills. It was an incredible journey that also provided great jobs and opportunities for many other people, particularly people of color who probably would not have had those opportunities otherwise. Then, in 1991, BET made history as it became the first African-American owned corporation to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. I was the first of my siblings to go off to college, so that in itself was a milestone. Web site: http://www.ebony., Rice, Linda Johnson 1958 Fontno, Tiffeni "Johnson, Robert L. 1946 Contemporary Black Biography. ." In 2016, Johnson finalized a partnership agreement with AMC Networks through his RLJ Company after launching his video-on-demand streaming service Urban Movie Channel in 2014. From 1982 to 2001, Johnson was the director of Cornell University . Burgess, Marjorie; Zerbonia, Ralph "Johnson, Robert L. 1946 In 1996 BET broke into the premium movie industry by partnering with STARZ to create BET Movies, showing mainly African-American focused movies, both contemporary and classics. Johnson was married to Sheila Johnson from 1969 to 2002. He is a Black entrepreneur, media magnate, executive, philanthropist, and investor. 9499. Achieving Health Equity Begins with Advancing Racial Equity. Born c. 1946, in Hickory, MS; married; wifes name, Sheila; children: Paige. You cant walk into the office expecting to be treated differently, because if you do that, youre going to be looking for divergence in the way youre treated. He became the first African-American billionaire . Camden, NJ 08102-1519. [3] He is also the founder of RLJ Companies which is a holding company that invests in various business sectors .Johnson is the former majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.His company is listed d among the most prominent African-American businesses in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries[4], Johnson was born in 1946 in French Camp, California. He spent the majority of his childhood in Freeport, Illinois. Johnson built BET from a tiny cable outlet, airing only two hours of programming a week in 1980, to a broadcasting giant that claimed an audience of more than 70 million households. Washington Post, June 5, 1990; September 21, 1991. Country Blues Delta Blues Pre-War Blues Pre-War Country Blues Regional Blues Slide Guitar Blues. He explained to Osborne, ABC [American Broadcasting Company] has an interest in reaching a black audience, and were interested in expanding., After a decade of growth in 1990, BET programming had increased from two to twenty-four hours each day. In 1954, he was ordained in the United Methodist Church. Encyclopedia.com. If they can do the job, give them the opportunity. 820 S. Michigan Avenue At the University of Illinois, Johnson became a member of the Beta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity . . My goal would be to put close to $1 billion, or more, back into the pockets of Black Americans over the next generation. As . RWJF has been credited with helping to develop the 911 emergency system . 2023 . '"[44], During the 2020 election, Johnson made comments implying that he supported President Trump, stating "[w]here I come out as a businessman, I will take the devil I know over the devil I don't know anytime of the week."[45]. [36], In 2007, Johnson created the Liberia Enterprise Development Fund with a $30 million investment.
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