Huizenga School to Host BET Founder Robert L. Johnson

The H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business & Entrepreneurship will continue its Distinguished Lecture Series on Monday, Jan. 23 with Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET), and RLJ Companies. The event will be held at 10:30 a.m., in the Dr. Williams S. Spears Courtyard Atrium of the Carl DeSantis Building on NSU’s main campus.

Johnson is the founder and chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET), a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B). Founded in 1980, BET is the nation’s first and leading television network providing quality entertainment, music, news, sports, and public affairs programming for the African-American audience.

In 2002, Johnson became the first African-American majority owner of a major sports franchise – the expansion Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA. He is also the owner of the Charlotte Sting of the WNBA.

Under Johnson’s leadership, BET became the first African American-owned company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The BET Network reaches more than 80 million households according to Nielsen Media Research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. In 2000, Johnson sold BET to Viacom for approximately $3 billion and signed a multi-year contract to continue to serve as chief executive officer. This all-stock transaction made Johnson the second-largest individual shareholder in Viacom to its chairman, Sumner Redstone.

Following the sale of BET, Johnson formed The RLJ Companies. Under The RLJ Companies umbrella, Johnson owns or holds interests in companies operating in the professional sports, hospitality/restaurant, real estate, financial services, gaming and recording industries; plus sole ownership of one of the nation’s largest and oldest collections of African-American art – the Barnett-Aden Collection. Core assets of The RLJ Companies include: Charlotte Bobcats Organization; RLJ Development, LLC; RLJ Urban Lodging Fund, LP; Casino and Gaming Entertainment (C.A.G.E); Rollover Systems, Inc.; BET Soundstage and Three Keys Music

Johnson is a graduate of the University of Illinois, and holds a master's degree in International Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.