George E. Johnson Sr., a pioneering figure in the Black cosmetics industry and founder of the Chicago-based Johnson Products Co., died Monday at his home in Chicago. He was 97. The family confirmed his passing in a statement.
Born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi, Johnson moved to Chicago with his family at age two and grew up in the Bronzeville neighborhood. From a young age, he held various jobs, demonstrating an early entrepreneurial spirit. After leaving Wendell Phillips High School as a junior, he joined Fuller Products, a Black-owned beauty company, where he worked as a door-to-door salesman before becoming head production chemist. His decade of experience at Fuller provided him with essential knowledge about cosmetics formulation.
In 1954, Johnson founded Johnson Products with a $250 loan, initially operating out of the back room of a friend’s store on Chicago’s South Side. His first offering was Ultra Wave Hair Culture, a hair relaxer formula developed in the lab at Fuller Products. The company quickly expanded, introducing products such as Afro Sheen, Classy Curl, Gentle Treatment, and Ultra Sheen, targeting African American consumers.
By the late 1950s, Johnson Products had grown substantially, moving into larger facilities and diversifying its product line. The company reached $1 million in annual revenue by 1964 and expanded further in the following decade. In 1971, it became the first Black-owned company to go public on the American Stock Exchange. Johnson Products also gained national visibility through its sponsorship of the television show "Soul Train," which relocated its production to Chicago in partnership with the company.
Despite its success, Johnson Products faced challenges, including regulatory scrutiny. In 1975, the Federal Trade Commission mandated more extensive warning labels on one of its hair relaxers due to the presence of lye. Johnson expressed that this requirement disrupted consumer confidence and hindered sales, as competing products from white-owned companies did not face the same labeling standards immediately.
Throughout the 1980s, Johnson Products remained a key player in the market, securing endorsement deals with notable figures such as Michael Jordan and his mother, Deloris. However, in 1988, Johnson’s wife, Joan, filed for divorce. As part of the settlement, he transferred control of the company to her, and he stepped down as chairman and CEO in 1989. Under Joan Johnson’s leadership, the company was sold to Ivax Corp. in 1993, marking the end of Black ownership. Ivax later sold Johnson Products to Procter & Gamble in 2004, which then sold it to a consortium of Black investors in 2009.
Beyond his business endeavors, Johnson was a prominent civic leader. He helped establish Independence Bank in 1964 and served as chairman of its holding company until its sale in 1995. He was the first Black member of the Commonwealth Edison board, served on the U.S. Postal Service’s board of governors, and held positions with the Chicago Urban League, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and the Lyric Opera Chicago.
Johnson’s personal life included three marriages. After divorcing Joan, he briefly married Renee Derem in the 1990s before remarrying Joan in 1995, who passed away in 2019. He is survived by his third wife, Madeline Murphy Rabb, three sons, a daughter, 10 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.