Blossom Of The Day: Sheila Crump Johnson

Sheila Crump Johnson became the first Black female billionaire in the United States, even before Oprah Winfrey became a billionaire. Johnson was also the first African-American woman to build a luxury hotel in the U.S. Business and civic leader, Sheila Crump Johnson was born on January 25, 1949 in Pennsylvania. Her father, George P. Crump, was a prominent neurosurgeon, and her mother, Marie Iris Crump, was an accountant. During her early years, her father's practice at Veterans Administration hospitals took the family from town to town. Her family then relocated to Maywood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, where Johnson attended Irving High School, and then graduated from Proviso High School in 1966. During this time, Johnson found her first love, music. She became a concert violinist and the first African American, male or female, to win a statewide violin competition in Illinois. After high school, Johnson enrolled in the University of Illinois where she met her former husband and business partner, Robert Johnson




In 1969, Johnson married Robert Johnson, and in 1970, she graduated from the University of Illinois with her B.A. degree in music. After graduation, Johnson worked as a music teacher at the private school, Sidwell Friends. In 1975, she founded a 140-member youth orchestra, Young Strings in Action. The group was invited to perform in the Middle Eastern nation of Jordan, and she was given the country's top educational award by Jordan's King Hussein.

In 1980, Johnson and her husband co-founded Black Entertainment Television (BET), a cable network geared towards African American audiences. Johnson became BET's executive vice president for corporate affairs, focusing on issues affecting the communities that BET served. In 1989, Johnson created Teen Summit, a show that dealt with the everyday issues of teens and attempted to motivate the teen viewers.

In 1999, Johnson left BET to pursue her own interests and to guide her daughter's equestrian career. In 2002, Johnson became head of the Washington International Horse Show. Johnson purchased a farm in Northern Virginia in Middleburg and has turned the 350 acre estate into the Salamander Inn & Spa, an 85,000-square-foot French country resort. Johnson also formed Salamander Hospitality, a hotel resort and spa management firm, in order to achieve these goals.

In 2005, Johnson purchased controlling interests in the Washington Mystics, a professional women's basketball team that plays in the WNBA, making her the only female, black or white to own a professional basketball team. In 2005, Johnson married William T. Newman, Jr., a judge in Arlington, Virginia. In July of 2007, Johnson purchased Innisbrook Golf Resort and its four golf courses outside of Tampa, Florida. She has two children, Paige Johnson and Brett Johnson.

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