George E. Johnson transformed Black entrepreneurship by building Johnson Products into a hair care empire from a $250 loan. His success reshaped Black beauty standards, made history on Wall Street, and helped finance Soul Train, leaving an enduring legacy that stretched far beyond cosmetics.
He parlayed a $250 personal loan into a business empire and, in the process, changed how Black America saw itself. A beauty-products pioneer, he broke Wall Street’s color barrier and later helped catapult a locally televised Chicago music show into a national pop-culture touchstone.
And, for the better part of a century, the name George E. Johnson became inseparable from Black hair care in America, at a time when the beauty industry treated Black consumers as little more than an afterthought — if they thought of them at all.
The legendary founder of Johnson Products Co., Johnson died Monday at his home in downtown Chicago. He was 99.
‘Visionary Business Leader’
His son, John Edward Johnson, told The Chicago Sun-Times that his father died of natural causes. The New York Times, citing Johnson’s second wife, Madeline Murphy Rabb, reported the cause as a respiratory illness.
“George was a visionary business leader who built a hair care empire, broke barriers on Wall Street, and helped fuel the fight for civil rights,” his family said in a statement. “Above all, he was a devoted family man whose example inspired generations.”
Johnson founded Johnson Products in 1954 with his first wife, Joan Johnson, on Chicago’s South Side. Within six years, the company controlled nearly 80% of the Black hair care market. In 1971, it became the first Black-owned company listed on the American Stock Exchange, now NYSE American.
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