When news broke that George E. Johnson had died at the age of 99, many remembered him as the entrepreneur behind Afro Sheen, the iconic hair care brand that became synonymous with the natural hair movement of the 1970s.
His products transformed the beauty industry, but his most consequential business achievement happened far from the salon aisle.
In 1971, Johnson Products Company became the first Black-owned company listed on the American Stock Exchange.
At a time when Black entrepreneurs faced enormous barriers to capital, the listing served as an example of what Black-owned businesses could achieve in the eyes of investors, retailers, and corporate America.
More than five decades later, Johnson’s accomplishment remains a defining moment in American business history. It also raises an uncomfortable question: Why are Black-owned public companies still so uncommon?
Building a Company Investors Could Believe In
George E. Johnson did not begin with Wall Street in mind. Like many entrepreneurs of his era, he started by solving a problem the market had largely ignored.
Black consumers had long been underserved by major beauty companies, leaving independent entrepreneurs to develop products tailored to their needs. Johnson saw an opportunity to build more than a product line. He built a vertically integrated company with manufacturing capabilities, national distribution, recognizable branding, and relationships with retailers across the country.
His flagship brands, including Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen, grew alongside profound cultural shifts. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, natural hairstyles became expressions of identity and pride, and Johnson Products became one of the companies helping define that era.
The company’s marketing strategy was equally innovative. Johnson invested in Black media and became one of the earliest sponsors of Soul Train, recognizing that authentic cultural connections could become a competitive advantage long before marketers spoke of audience segmentation or community building.
By the time Johnson Products approached the public markets, it was already a profitable, nationally recognized business.
A Historic Milestone
Johnson Products’ listing on the American Stock Exchange in 1971 represented far more than access to new capital.
Public markets had long served as engines of growth for America’s largest companies, providing financing for expansion, acquisitions, and long-term investment. For Black entrepreneurs, however, those opportunities had remained largely out of reach.
Johnson’s listing challenged prevailing assumptions about who could build an institution worthy of public investment. It demonstrated that a company serving Black consumers could achieve national scale, attract investors, and compete alongside publicly traded corporations in industries dominated by much larger competitors.
The milestone also arrived during a period of growing attention to Black economic empowerment following the Civil Rights Movement. While legislative victories expanded legal rights, Johnson’s success illustrated another dimension of progress: ownership, capital formation, and wealth creation.
The Promise and the Reality
The significance of Johnson’s achievement becomes even clearer when viewed through today’s business landscape.
Although Black entrepreneurship has expanded dramatically over the past several decades, relatively few Black-founded or Black-controlled companies have reached the public markets. The reasons are complex.
The number of U.S. companies choosing to go public has declined overall since the 1990s as private equity, venture capital, and private credit have offered founders alternative paths to growth. Many successful businesses are acquired before reaching the scale required for an initial public offering. Others remain private for far longer than companies did in Johnson’s era.
Yet those structural changes alone do not explain the scarcity of Black-owned public companies. Access to growth capital, investor networks, executive experience, and institutional sponsorship continues to shape which businesses eventually ring the opening bell on a stock exchange.
Johnson confronted many of those same barriers decades earlier—often with fewer resources and fewer precedents.
Beyond Representation
Johnson’s legacy should not be measured solely by representation.
Public companies occupy a unique place in the economy. They can raise significant amounts of capital, expand internationally, acquire competitors using stock, create liquidity for early investors and employees, and build institutions designed to endure beyond their founders.
When more companies from historically underrepresented communities reach the public markets, the impact extends well beyond individual entrepreneurs. It influences employment, supplier networks, investment opportunities, and long-term wealth creation.
Johnson understood that building a successful company meant building an institution.
The Blueprint Still Matters
Today’s generation of Black founders operates in a vastly different business environment. Digital commerce has lowered barriers to entry. Social media allows brands to connect directly with consumers. Venture investors have shown increasing interest in overlooked markets, even as funding remains uneven.
Yet many of the principles that defined Johnson’s career remain remarkably current: identify an underserved market, build products with authenticity, invest in brand equity, control distribution where possible, and create a business capable of lasting beyond cultural trends.
Those ideas helped transform Johnson Products from a small manufacturer into a publicly traded company at a time when such an outcome seemed almost unimaginable.
George E. Johnson will rightly be remembered for Afro Sheen and the role his company played in shaping Black beauty and culture. But his broader contribution deserves equal recognition. He demonstrated that Black entrepreneurs could build companies worthy of public investment and national scale.
More than 50 years after Johnson Products made history on the American Stock Exchange, that milestone remains both an inspiration and a benchmark.

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