George E. Johnson, Founder of Johnson Products, Dies at 99

(AURN News) — George E. Johnson, the pioneering entrepreneur who built a Black hair-care empire, has died at 99, according to The New York Times. Born in a sharecropper’s shack in Mississippi, Johnson moved to Chicago as a child and later founded Johnson Products with his wife, Joan, in 1954. The company created popular brands […] The post George E. Johnson, Founder of Johnson Products, Dies at 99 appeared first on American Urban Radio Networks.

George E. Johnson, Founder of Johnson Products, Dies at 99

(AURN News) — George E. Johnson, the pioneering entrepreneur who built a Black hair-care empire, has died at 99, according to The New York Times. Born in a sharecropper’s shack in Mississippi, Johnson moved to Chicago as a child and later founded Johnson Products with his wife, Joan, in 1954.

The company created popular brands including Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen, dominating much of the Black hair-care market during the 1960s. In 1971, Johnson Products became the first Black-owned company listed on a major American stock exchange. The company also became the first Black-controlled business to sponsor a national television program through its longtime partnership with “Soul Train.”

Johnson later helped establish Independence Bank of Chicago, one of the nation’s largest Black-owned banks.

Rest in power, George E. Johnson.


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The post George E. Johnson, Founder of Johnson Products, Dies at 99 appeared first on American Urban Radio Networks.