\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors <\/p>\n
July 6, 2026<\/p>\n
Johnson died of natural causes at his downtown Chicago condominium, according to his son, John Edward Johnson, who confirmed his father’s death<\/p>\n
George E. Johnson, whose Johnson Products Co. became the first Black-owned company listed on the American Stock Exchange and helped transform the Black hair care industry, died July 6 <\/a>in Chicago. He was 99, the Chicago Sun-Times<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n George died of natural causes at his downtown Chicago condominium, according to his son John Edward Johnson, who confirmed his father\u2019s death to the\u00a0outlet. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think his legacy as a businessman and philanthropist speaks for itself,\u201d\u00a0John said. \u00a0<\/p>\n George founded Johnson Products <\/a>in 1954 after working for the Black-owned cosmetics company S.B. Fuller. The Chicago-based company developed hair care products specifically for Black consumers, including Ultra Sheen, Classy Curl, Curly Perm, and Afro Sheen.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 1971, Johnson Products became the first Black-owned business to trade on the American Stock Exchange, marking a milestone for Black entrepreneurship in the United States. \u00a0<\/p>\n The company also became known for pioneering marketing strategies aimed at Black consumers. It was the first Black-owned company to sponsor the nationally syndicated television program Soul Train<\/em>,\u00a0helping expand both the brand\u2019s national visibility and the show\u2019s cultural reach. \u00a0<\/p>\n Born in a sharecropper\u2019s shack in Richton, Mississippi, George moved to Chicago with his mother in 1929. He worked a series of jobs as a child before leaving high school to support his family. At age 17, he joined S.B. Fuller, where his experience in sales and product development laid the foundation for launching his own company a decade later. \u00a0<\/p>\n George remained active in business and philanthropy throughout his life, supporting educational initiatives and civic organizations while mentoring generations of entrepreneurs.\u00a0In 2025, he published his memoir, Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street<\/em>, chronicling the company\u2019s rise and his\u00a0philosophy of\u00a0leadership and service.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reflecting on the principles that shaped his career, the business pioneer said in a 2025 interview, \u201cWhen you help people, people will help you. And if you serve them well, they\u2019re going to make your business successful.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n George\u2019s legacy endures through the barriers he broke in American business, his influence on the Black beauty industry, and the opportunities he created for future generations of Black entrepreneurs. \u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT: \u2018AFRO SHEEN\u2019 VISIONARIES GEORGE & JOAN JOHNSON BUILT A COSMETIC EMPIRE ON A PATH LESS TRAVELED<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors July 6, 2026 Johnson died of natural causes at his downtown Chicago condominium, according to his son, John Edward Johnson, who confirmed his father’s death George E. Johnson, whose Johnson Products Co. became the first Black-owned company listed on the American Stock Exchange and helped transform the Black hair care industry, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10666],"tags":[23823,997,241,701,1764,724,23821,1372,23822,5715,2340],"class_list":["post-33805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reparations","tag-afro","tag-black","tag-business","tag-dies","tag-founder","tag-george","tag-george-e-johnson","tag-johnson","tag-johnson-products","tag-pioneer","tag-sheen"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/photo-output.jpeg",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"REPARATIONS NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors July 6, 2026 Johnson died of natural causes at his downtown Chicago condominium, according to his son, John Edward Johnson, who confirmed his father’s death George E. Johnson, whose Johnson Products Co. became the first Black-owned company listed on the American Stock Exchange and helped transform the Black hair care industry,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33807,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33805\/revisions\/33807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}