Entrepreneur, media magnate, executive, philanthropist, and investor. He is the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television.
1946
Hickory, Mississippi, USA
African American
1946: Born.
1976: Served as Vice President of government relations for the National Cable and Television Association (NCTA).
1980: Johnson’s Black Entertainment Television debuted on cable.
1991: BET became the first black owned corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
1995: Moved company to a new $15 million building in Washington’s northern industrial corridor.
1996: BET launched the nation’s first black controlled cable movie premium channel, BET Movies/STARZ!3.
1998: Founded BET Pictures II and BET Arabesque Films.
1998: Took company private at $1.3 billion valuation.
2001: BET acquired by Viacom for $3 billion.
2001: BET.com voted Best African–American Community Site by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine.
Johnson was born in 1946 in Hickory, Mississippi, the ninth out of ten children to Edna and Archie Johnson. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a farmer. The Johnson family moved to the industrial farming town of Freeport, Illinois, where both parents worked in local factories to provide for their large family. Johnson and his siblings were taught to be self-sufficient. As the ninth of ten children, Johnson told Beverly Smith in a 1992 interview on CNN’s Pinnacle that he had “a lot of brothers and sisters that I could sort of pick on if I had to for whatever information.” His entrepreneurial spirit was honed when he was a child. At the age of 12, Johnson began a job delivering the Rockford Morning Star.
Johnson graduated from the University of Illinois in 1968 with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies. He received a Master’s degree in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University in 1972.
After graduating from Princeton, Johnson found a job in Washington DC that introduced him to the television industry. He served as the Public Affairs Director for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and it was in this position that he learned of the power and untapped potential of television. He also worked as Director of Communications for the Washington DC office of the National Urban League and was Press Secretary for Congressman Walter E Fauntroy. He later became Vice President of Government Relations at the National Cable and Television Association (NCTA). In 1980, Johnson launched Black Entertainment Television, which became a fully-fledged channel in 1983.
Johnson left NCTA in 1979 to create Black Entertainment Television, the first cable television network aimed at African Americans. When the network launched in 1980, it only aired for two hours on Friday night. BET first turned a profit in 1985 and in 1991 it became the first Black controlled company listed on the New York Stock Exchange . In 1998, Johnson and Liberty Media bought all outstanding shares of the company. This purchase gave Johnson 42% of the company. Viacom acquired BET in 2001 for a reported $3 billion; Johnson earned over $1 billion from the sale, making him the first Black American billionaire. He remained BET CEO until 2006.
Johnson founded The RLJ Companies, a holding company with a diverse portfolio including hotel real estate investment, private equity, financial services, asset management, automobile dealerships, sports and entertainment, and video lottery terminal gaming.
By January 2009, Ion Media had another subchannel network, Urban TV, in the works with him targeted to African-Americans.
As of 2013, Johnson was a member of the Board of Directors for a large number of organisations, including the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. He also served as a Member of the Board for several others, including the United Negro College Fund.
Johnson became the first African American majority club owner of a major American sports league team with his 2002 purchase of the Charlotte Bobcats.
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In 2011, Johnson worked with Morgan Freeman to raise funds for hurricane preparedness in the Bahamas. In 2012 Johnson released a neckwear line in coordination with other organisations to benefit the charity Malaria No More.
In 2007, Johnson created the Liberia Enterprise Development Fund with a $30 million investment. The fund provides credit for Liberian entrepreneurs.
In 2016, Johnson finalised a partnership agreement with AMC Networks through his RLJ Company after launching his own video on demand streaming service Urban Movie Channel in 2014.
Johnson had hoped to become a fighter pilot in the US Air Force but could not meet the physical requirements. He concentrated instead on his studies and college.
Johnson married Sheila Johnson in 1969 and they have two children. They subsequently divorced.
Robert L. Johnson – Wikipedia
Robert L. Johnson – BET, Philanthropy & Facts – Biography
Robert L. Johnson 1946— Biography – Beginning of a media entrepreneur (referenceforbusiness.com)
Johnson, Robert L. | Encyclopedia.com
Robert L. Johnson Facts for Kids (kiddle.co)
Home – RLJ Companies
