Sheila Crump Johnson (born January 25, 1949) is an American businesswoman, co-founder of

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

, CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, and the first billionaire African-American woman. Johnson is team president, managing partner, and governor of the WNBA's

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

, a position she earned before the 2005 season. On May 24, 2005, Washington Sports and Entertainment Chairman,

Abe Pollin Abraham J. Pollin (December 3, 1923 – November 24, 2009) was the owner of a number of professional sports teams including the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL), the Washington Mystics in the Women's National Basketbal ...

, sold the Mystics to Lincoln Holdings LLC, where Johnson served as president. She is the first African-American woman to be an owner or partner in three professional sports franchises: the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

(NHL), the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

(NBA), and the

(WNBA). Johnson is CEO of Salamander Hospitality, a company she founded in 2005. Salamander's portfolio includes: Reunion Resort located in

Reunion, Florida Reunion is a resort and master-planned community located within Four Corners in Osceola County, Florida, near Walt Disney World Resort. Developed by Bobby Ginn and the Ginn Family, owner and developer of several resort communities throughout th ...

; The

Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club is a hotel and country club resort in the southeastern United States, located in Palm Harbor, Florida, northwest of Tampa, Florida, Tampa. The complex consists of a 620-room hotel, four golf courses, spa, three rest ...

, a , 72 hole

PGA tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

golf course in Palm Harbor, FL; Hotel Bennett in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

; Half Moon in

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Por ...

, Jamaica; Aurora Anguilla in

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

; and The Salamander Resort & Spa in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

Middleburg, Virginia Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 673 as of the 2010 census. It is the southernmost town along Loudoun County's shared border with Fauquier County. Middleburg is known as the "Nation's Horse ...

Early life

Sheila Johnson was born on January 25, 1949 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a neurosurgeon father who worked for the Veterans Administration, and an accountant mother. While attending

Proviso East High School Proviso East High School is a public secondary school in Maywood, Illinois which serves the educational needs of Maywood and three other villages within Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois: Broadview, Forest Park and Melrose Park. It is ...

Maywood, Illinois Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 United States Census. Histor ...

she was a cheerleader, serving as captain of the varsity squad in her senior year. She was also educated at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

Philanthropy

Johnson is a Global Ambassador for CARE, a humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. ''Sheila's I Am Powerful Challenge'' raised over $8 million in 2007. She serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of

Parsons The New School for Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhat ...

in New York and funded the opening of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, combining classrooms, public program spaces and galleries. She sits on the boards of VH1's

Save the Music Foundation VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communic ...

, Americans for the Arts, the

Curry School of Education The School of Education and Human Development is a public school of education in the United States, on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The School of Education and Human Development offers professional programs designed t ...

Foundation at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, and the

Foundation. Johnson is also the Ambassador for the Healthy Site Institute, a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

, and a member of

Sigma Alpha Iota Sigma Alpha Iota () is a women's music fraternity. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its m ...

music fraternity.

Film

Johnson's first film, '' Kicking It'', premiered at the 2008

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

in Park City, UT. She served as sole executive producer on her second film, '' A Powerful Noise'', which premiered at the 2008

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

in New York.

Personal life

For 33 years from 1969–2002, she was married to Robert L. Johnson. Together they founded the entertainment network

. They sold the company to

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

in 1999. They have two children. In an interview, Sheila Johnson said she herself is "ashamed" of what the BET has become. "I don't watch it. I suggest to my kids that they don't watch it," she said. "When we started BET, it was going to be the ''Ebony'' magazine on television. We had public affairs programming. We had news... I had a show called ''

Teen Summit Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the ...

'', we had a large variety of programming, but the problem is that then the video revolution started up... And then something started happening, and I didn't like it at all. And I remember during those days we would sit up and watch these videos and decide which ones were going on and which ones were not. We got a lot of backlash from recording artists... and we had to start showing them. I didn't like the way women were being portrayed in these videos." After her divorce from Robert L. Johnson in 2002, she was estimated to be worth about $670 million. In 2009, Forbes magazine estimated her net worth to be $400 million. In May 2017, Johnson's net worth was placed at $750 million. On September 24, 2005, she married Arlington County Circuit Court Chief Judge William T. Newman, who had presided over her divorce from Robert L. Johnson in 2003. The couple first met three decades earlier when they acted in a play together. In 2007 Johnson was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History" for her career and her contributions to society. Johnson is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, although in 2009 she endorsed

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Virginia gubernatorial candidate

Bob McDonnell Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. His career ended after his corruption scandal and convic ...

. In early October 2009, Johnson mocked the stutter of Democratic gubernatorial candidate

Creigh Deeds Robert Creigh Deeds (; born January 4, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a member of the Senate of Virginia representing the 25th district since 2001. Previously, he was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Virgi ...

at a rally for McDonnell's campaign. She later apologized. In April 2010, Johnson condemned Virginia Governor

for his proclamation honoring

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

History Month because it omitted any reference to

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. In April 2021, Johnson along with

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

team president

Jason Wright Jason Gomillion Wright (born July 12, 1982) is an American businessman who is the president of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Born in the Greater Los Angeles area, he attended Northwestern University in the earl ...

formed the Inclusive Growth Strategy Council within the

Greater Washington Partnership The Greater Washington Partnership is a civic alliance of the region's leading employers who are committed to fostering unity and making the Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area the most inclusive economy in the nation. History The Greate ...

Awards

Recognized as a Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medalist in 2012, Johnson was honored as an individual whose far-reaching influence has made our world a better place. In 2018, Johnson received the Lincoln Medal which is given by Ford’s Theatre Society to those who, through their body of work, accomplishments or personal attributes, exemplify the lasting legacy and mettle of character embodied by

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. In May 2019,

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the ''Order of Lincoln'', the highest award given ...

granted Johnson the Order of Lincoln award, the highest honor bestowed by the

State of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. In October 2019, the

Women's Sports Foundation The Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit charity focused on female involvement in sports. Founded in 1974 by tennis player Billie Jean King and initially supported by Olympic athletes Donna de Varona and Suzy Chaf ...

honored Johnson with the Billie Jean King Leadership Award.

References

External links

Johnson's biography
at the

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...

Designer Luxury Silk Scarves, Wearable Art by Sheila Johnson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Sheila 1949 births African-American sports executives and administrators African-American businesspeople African-American women in business American sports executives and administrators African-American billionaires African-American investors American women in business Businesspeople from Virginia Living people People from Loudoun County, Virginia Washington Mystics executives Washington Mystics owners Washington Capitals owners Washington Wizards owners Women's National Basketball Association executives American billionaires Female billionaires Women in American professional sports management Sigma Alpha Iota Women basketball executives People from The Plains, Virginia Virginia Democrats 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women