Christopher Wold Johnson (born August 7, 1959) is an American businessman and sports executive who is the owner and vice chairman of the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). He is a great-grandson of
Robert Wood Johnson I
Robert Wood Johnson I (February 20, 1845 – February 7, 1910) was an American industrialist. He was one of the three brothers who founded Johnson & Johnson.
Early life and education
Johnson was born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, on February 2 ...
(co-founder of
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...
), and the brother of
Woody Johnson
Robert Wood Johnson IV (born April 12, 1947) is an American businessman who is co-owner of the New York Jets and was formerly the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, ...
who served as the
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, formally the ambassador of the United States of America to the Court of St James's is the official representative of the president of the United States and the Federal government of the United ...
from 2017 to 2021. He is the co-owner of the Jets along with his brother Woody and served as the chairman and CEO from 2017 to 2021.
Early life
Johnson was born in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Robert Wood Johnson III, president of Johnson & Johnson for four years. Johnson grew up with four siblings:
Woody Johnson
Robert Wood Johnson IV (born April 12, 1947) is an American businessman who is co-owner of the New York Jets and was formerly the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, ...
, Keith Johnson, Billy Johnson and Elizabeth "Libet" Johnson, in affluent areas of northern
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. In 1975, Keith died of a cocaine overdose and Billy died in a motorcycle accident.
Professional sports
New York Jets
Johnson has been an owner of the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
alongside his brother, Woody, since 2000.
In 2017, Johnson became the CEO and chairman of the Jets following Woody's nomination and confirmation to be the
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, formally the ambassador of the United States of America to the Court of St James's is the official representative of the president of the United States and the Federal government of the United ...
. Johnson served as operating head of the Jets during his brother's ambassadorial tenure. In his role as owner, Johnson oversaw the promotion of
Hymie Elhai
Hymie Elhai (born April 1976) is an American football executive who currently serves as the President of the New York Jets.
Early life
Elhai is a graduate of Rutgers Law School and Johns Hopkins University.
Career
Elhai was promoted to Presiden ...
as team president,
Joe Douglas
Joe Douglas (born 1983) is a British theatre director, playwright and performer. He was the Artistic Director of Live Theatre in Newcastle from 2018 to 2020.
Background
Douglas was born and raised in Manchester, where he attended St. Bede's Col ...
as General Manager, and
Robert Saleh
Robert Jalal Saleh (born January 31, 1979) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head coach of the New York Jets from 2021 to 2024. ...
as head coach. It was Christopher Johnson who fired
Adam Gase
Adam Joseph Gase (born March 29, 1978) is an American football coach. He came to prominence in the National Football League (NFL) as the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos from 2013 to 2014, whose offense set the NFL record for points ...
following the 2020 season.
In addition to his Jets role, Johnson serves as a member of the NFL's Media Owned and Operated committee.
Stance on Kneeling
Johnson has supported the collective actions of his players' rights and privileges to kneel or to stay in the locker room during the pre-game playing of the American anthem. While he was one of the NFL Team owners that voted for the policy enacted in May 2018 to penalize and fine any player who does not stand during the Anthem he has offered to pay the fines incurred by players who choose to kneel or stay in the locker room stating:
"If somebody n the Jetstakes a knee, that fine will be borne by the organization, by me, not the players." Johnson said. "I never want to put restrictions on the speech of our players. Do I prefer that they stand? Of course. But I understand if they felt the need to protest. There are some big, complicated issues that we're all struggling with, and our players are on the front lines. I don't want to come down on them like a ton of bricks, and I won't. There will be no club fines or suspensions or any sort of repercussions. If the team gets fined, that's just something I'll have to bear."