CHICAGO (AP) — George E. Johnson Sr., a pioneer in Black hair care whose multimillion dollar business was the first Black-owned company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange, has died at age 99, according to his family.
Johnson died Monday at his home in downtown Chicago. A cause of death was not released.
Johnson and his late wife, Joan, started Johnson Products in 1954 on Chicago’s South Side after securing a $250 loan. It grew into a hair care empire catering almost exclusively to Black people, with brands like Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen.
Johnson Products also was a national sponsor of the hit 1970s music and dance television show “Soul Train.”
“Johnson Products became a fixture in homes and salons around the world and a source of pride throughout Black America,” his family said in a statement.
Johnson's memoir, “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street,” was published in 2024.
“I had an epiphany,” Johnson said in a statement released by the book's publisher, Little, Brown and Company. “In that experience, I clearly heard five words: ‘You must tell your story.’ I believed it was the voice of the Lord. I made a 180 degree turn and immediately sought a writer.”
Johnson was born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi, and moved to Chicago as a child with his family. Their move occurred during what’s called the First Great Migration, between 1910 and 1940, when tens of thousands of southern Blacks moved to northern and midwestern cities for jobs and to escape racial oppression.
To help the family financially, Johnson shined shoes, cleared tables in eateries and set up pins in a bowling alley.
“Those early experiences shaped the values that guided him throughout his life: humility, determination, personal responsibility, and the golden rule: treating everyone the way he wished to be treated, with dignity and respect,” his family said.
Johnson later would found Independence Bank, and he became the first Black person to serve on the board of directors of the Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison. The George E. Johnson Educational Fund awarded more than 1,000 college scholarships.
Williams reported from Detroit.
Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks at the PUSH Expo businessmen's breakfast as, from left, Richard G. Hatcher, mayor of Gary, Ind., Emmitt Dedmon, and George E. Johnson Sr., listen, in Chicago, Sept. 19, 1973. (Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
George E. Johnson Sr., who founded Johnson Products Company, is photographed at his company on the South Side of Chicago, Jan. 8, 1973. (Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The woman suspected of trying to kill a Ukrainian business tycoon in a bombing attack in Monaco last week was found dead in Ukraine with gunshot wounds to the head, Ukraine’s Security Service said on Tuesday.
A Ukrainian military intelligence officer confessed to killing the bombing suspect, Anastasiia Berezovska, with the help of a former law enforcement officer, said the security service, known as the SBU. The military intelligence officer said he acted on his own and without the knowledge of his superiors, the SBU said.
Both men were detained on suspicion of murdering Berezovska, a Ukrainian national whose last known residence was in Germany, according to authorities.
The bombing attack at an apartment building entrance in Monaco reportedly injured Vadym Yermolaiev, a tycoon with links to Russia. A woman and a child who were with him were also injured, and prosecutors in Monaco said last week that one of the victims was in a life-threatening condition.
The attack shocked Monaco, a coastal playground for the rich and famous known for its tax-friendly incentives, royal family and Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Authorities have not disclosed possible motives for the bombing attack, or the killing of Berezovska. Based on the sophistication of the remote-controlled explosive device that was used, investigators in Monaco said last week that they believed multiple people were involved in the attack.
In Kyiv, the mysterious events have raised concerns among some lawmakers about how Ukraine’s Western allies are reacting to a possible assassination attempt in Monaco that is now linked to at least one member of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.
“I hope it will not have a serious impact. But our allies deserve an explanation,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, a lawmaker from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party.
Ukraine is believed to have carried out attacks and targeted killings of Russian figures in the course of the war, although those attacks have largely been confined to Ukrainian or Russian territory.
One possibility is that the bombing in Monaco and Berezovska’s killing are connected to the Yermolaiev family’s business dealings, said political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, who believes it’s too soon to implicate the Ukrainian state.
Fesenko noted that at the end of April, Yermolaiev’s son, Artur, had settled charges brought against him in Estonia related to an alleged phone scam that took in more than 100 million euros ($114 million) from citizens in multiple European countries between 2019 and 2022, according to local media reports. As part of the deal, the younger Yermolaiev paid an 8.5 million euro fine.
Monaco's head of state, Prince Albert II, described last week's bombing as “an odious act.” The 39-year-old Berezovska was identified as the main suspect by Interpol, which issued a so-called Red Notice seeking her arrest on charges of attempted murder and criminal conspiracy. The notice said Berezovska has a tattoo, possibly of a snake, on her right arm from the shoulder to the elbow.
Yermolaiev built his fortune through the Alef Group, a diversified business that includes commercial real estate, manufacturing and agriculture. Sanctioned by Ukraine in 2023 for his Russia ties, Yermolaiev has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago.
Interpol on Tuesday said it had no immediate comment on the arrests of the Ukrainian military intelligence officer and former law enforcement officer.
The SBU said investigators had focused on the two men after discovering they had repeatedly transferred cryptocurrency and money through bank accounts to Berezovska.
Investigators said they found Berezovska’s body during a reconstruction of the crime based on one suspect’s testimony. Investigators recovered spent pistol casings at the scene, the SBU said.
Authorities said the basement of the former law enforcement officer’s home appeared to be used as a torture chamber. It was not immediately clear if this is where Berezovska’s body was found.
The SBU said it had shared all available information with authorities in Monaco and was continuing to investigate those who ordered and organized the bombing attack there.
Investigators examine the scene at the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured three people a day earlier in Monaco, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
This screenshot of the Interpol webpage shows a Red Notice for Anastasiia Berezovska, a suspect in the Monaco bombing that reportedly targeted a Ukrainian tycoon with links to Russia. (Interpol via AP)
