Robert L. Johnson

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Robert L. Johnson (2018)

Robert L. "Bob" Johnson (born April 8, 1946 in Hickory , Mississippi ) is an American entrepreneur , media tycoon, manager, philanthropist and investor . He is the co-founder and former chairman and CEO of Black Entertainment Television (BET), which Viacom acquired in 2001 . He is the first African American billionaire and thus also the first black person to be entered on Forbes' list of the richest people .

Childhood and personal life

Johnson spent most of his childhood in Freeport , Illinois . He was the ninth of ten children of Archie and Edna Johnson. In 1964 Johnson attended Freeport High School and then studied history at the University of Illinois ; there he finished his studies in 1968 with a bachelor's degree . During his university days he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi brotherhood . In 1972 he received his Masters from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University . He was married to Sheila Johnson from 1969 to 2002 and had a daughter with her in 1986 and a son in 1990.

Career

After graduating from Princeton, Johnson found a job in Washington, DC which introduced him to the television industry. He was the director of public affairs for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting . During his time at CPB, he learned about the power and untapped potential of television. Around the same time, he was also serving as the communications director for the National Urban League's DC office in Washington. Johnson also worked as a press secretary for Congressman Walter E. Fauntroy . He later became vice president of government relations for the National Cable and Television Association. In 1980 Johnson started the television channel Black Entertainment Television , which in 1983 became a full-fledged broadcaster.

In 1980, he and his wife founded the entertainment network BET . In 1991 the first BET company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2002 Johnson Private took over all of its publicly traded shares. In 2003 Viacom bought BET for $ 3,000,000,000 . Johnson's stake was worth over a billion dollars, making him the richest black man in the United States . He was CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company for six years . In 2005 he gave up both offices.

In the fall of 2006, Johnson founded the film studio Our Stories Films . His partner is Harvey Weinstein . Johnson is also chairman and founder of RLJ Companies and a former majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats , a basketball team in the NBA professional league .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/post200/stories98/bet.htm
  2. Brett Pulley: The Million Dollar BET: Robert Johnson and the inside story of the Black Entertainment Television .
  3. His Way. Retrieved June 15, 2019 .
  4. ^ The Market Nobody Wanted. Retrieved June 15, 2019 .