Sheila Crump Johnson (born January 25, 1949) is an American billionaire businesswoman, co-founder of BET, and CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts. Johnson is a vice chairman and partner of

Monumental Sports & Entertainment Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) is an American sports management, sports and venue management company founded by Ted Leonsis in June 2010. Monumental owns and operates the NHL team Washington Capitals, the NBA team Washington Wizards, t ...

, a professional sports holding company which manages the

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

(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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

(NBA), and the

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 of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

(WNBA). Johnson is CEO of Salamander Hospitality, a company she founded in 2005. Salamander's portfolio includes: Reunion Resort located in Reunion, Florida; The Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, a , 72 hole

PGA tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

golf course in Palm Harbor, FL; Hotel Bennett in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

; 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 most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...

, Jamaica; Aurora Anguilla in

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in the West Indies under British Empire, British rule, including Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Antigua and Barb ...

; and The Salamander Resort & Spa in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...

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 McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. A suburb of Pittsburgh, it is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. History Early history ...

, the daughter of a neurosurgeon father who worked for the Veterans Administration and an accountant mother. She has a younger brother, George. She is of Italian, German, and African American descent. She attended Proviso East High School in

Maywood, Illinois Maywood is a village in 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 census. History There was limited European-Am ...

and graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Philanthropy

Johnson is a Global Ambassador for

CARE Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...

, a humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. Her initiative called ''Sheila's I Am Powerful Challenge'' was created to support the empowerment of women in fighting poverty and it raised over $8 million in 2007. She serves as chair of the Board of Governors of Parsons The New School for Design 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, Americans for the Arts, the School of Education and Human Development Foundation (formerly the Curry School of Education) at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, and the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

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 focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

, and a member of

Sigma Alpha Iota Sigma Alpha Iota () is an international music fraternity. It was established in 1903 at the University School of Music in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sigma Alpha Iota is a member of the National Interfraternity Music Council and the Professional Frater ...

music fraternity.

Film

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

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in Park City, Utah. She served as one of 237 executive producers 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 Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

in New York.

Personal life

For 33 years from 1969 to 2002, Sheila Johnson was married to Robert L. Johnson. Together they founded the entertainment network BET. They sold the company to Viacom 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'', 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 2002 divorce. 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, although in 2009 she endorsed Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate

Bob McDonnell Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American politician, attorney, businessman, academic administrator, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Republica ...

. In early October 2009, Johnson mocked the

stutter Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

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 11th district since 2024, and previously the 25th district since 2001. Previously, he was the Dem ...

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

for his proclamation honoring Confederate History Month because it omitted any reference to

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

team president Jason Wright formed the Inclusive Growth Strategy Council within the Greater Washington Partnership.

Awards

Recognized as an 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, she 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 the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. In 2019, The Lincoln Academy of Illinois 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. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. That same year, 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 Chaffee ...

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 is located at 800 East Broad Street, tw ...

Monumental Sports profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Sheila 1949 births 20th-century African-American businesspeople 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen 21st-century African-American businesspeople 21st-century African-American women African-American billionaires African-American investors African-American sports executives and administrators African-American women in business American billionaires American investors American sports executives and administrators 20th-century American businesswomen Businesspeople from Virginia Female billionaires Living people Monumental Sports & Entertainment People from Loudoun County, Virginia People from The Plains, Virginia Sigma Alpha Iota Virginia Democrats Washington Capitals owners Washington Mystics executives Washington Mystics owners Washington Wizards owners Women basketball executives American women sports executives and administrators Women's National Basketball Association executives 21st-century American businesswomen