Jonathan "JJ" Johnson (born Jonathan Edward Johnson III) is an American business executive, currently serving as the CEO for

Overstock.com Overstock.com, Inc. is an American internet retailer selling primarily furniture headquartered in Midvale, Utah, near Salt Lake City. Businessman Patrick M. Byrne founded Overstock.com in 1999. The company initially sold exclusively surplus and ...

. He was a candidate for the

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 ...

nomination in the

2016 Utah gubernatorial election The 2016 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Utah, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to ...

Personal life and education

Johnson was born in Los Angeles, California to Jonathan E. Johnson II and Clare Hardy Johnson, the oldest of their eight sons. He received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

in 1990, followed by a Juris Doctor degree from the

J. Reuben Clark Law School, in 1993."Happening Upon Success", by Jamie Cline, LDSLiving, February 19, 2011. Johnson has been married to his wife, Courtney Johnson, for 27 years and together they have five sons. His oldest is named Jonathan Johnson IV.

Career

Following his graduation, Johnson worked as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

for

Utah Supreme Court The Utah Supreme Court is the supreme court of the state of Utah, United States. It has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution. The Utah Supreme Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, an associate chief justice, ...

Justice Leonard H. Russon. In 1999, Johnson moved back to Utah to work for the publicly traded software company TenFold Corporation, lasting there until 2002 when he was hired by Overstock.com to be general counsel. He served as the chairman of the board at Overstock until 2019. Upon the departure of Patrick Byrne on August 22, 2019 Johnson became the interim CEO of the company. One month later on September 23, 2019 Johnson was appointed CEO of Overstock.com.

2016 Campaign for Utah Governor

Johnson, a

, formally announced his candidacy for governor on August 15, 2015 at the Republican state GOP convention Jonathan Johnson defeated his opponent in the Utah State Republican Convention, by 11 percentage points, forcing the incumbent,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Gary Herbert Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle. Herbert wo ...

, into a primary election, which was held June 28, 2016. On April 18, 2016, Johnson announced his selection of Robyn Bagley as his running mate. Bagley is the founder of a charter school, and was a leader on the losing side in the voucher battle in 2007."Fight over 'Education Savings Accounts' brewing," Rod Decker, KUTV News, May 8, 2016
/ref> Johnson was defeated in the primary. Governor Gary Herbert is the Republican nominee for Utah governor in the 2016 general election.

Education

Johnson and his running mate, Robyn Bagley, focused on education during their announcement to run together for governor and lieutenant governor, and expressed their intention to put education decisions into the hands of private companies. Both running mates voiced support for vouchers that would allow public funding to go to private schools.

References

External links

Jonathan E. Johnson'
Podcast on Leadership in Business
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jonathan E. American chairpersons of corporations American Mormon missionaries in Japan Living people Utah Republicans Year of birth missing (living people)