Black hair care pioneer George E. Johnson Sr. dies at 99

George E. Johnson Sr., the pioneering American businessman and entrepreneur who built a Black hair care empire, died at his home in Chicago on Monday, July 6, according to his family. Johnson was 99.

The family expressed their “profound sadness” after Johnson’s death and celebrated his “extraordinary legacy of entrepreneurship, faith, perseverance, philanthropy, and family.”

Johnson founded his company, Johnson Products Company (JPC), in Chicago’s South Side in 1954 with his late wife, Joan, using a $250 loan and “an unshakable belief that opportunity should exist for everyone,” his family said.

Johnson Products Company manufactured a line of hair care products for Black consumers named Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen, which became staples in homes and salons and “a source of pride throughout Black America,” the Johnson family statement added.

The company gained notoriety as the first national sponsor of Soul Train — the iconic musical variety TV show — and in 1971 became the first Black-owned business listed and traded on the American Stock Exchange.

Johnson was born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi, and later moved to Chicago as a child, where he worked at a young age, shining shoes and bussing tables to help support his family.

Johnson is survived by his second wife, Madeline Murphy Rabb, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.