Woody Johnson

Robert Wood "Woody" Johnson IV (born April 12, 1947) is an American businessman serving as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom.[1][2] He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, and a billionaire heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune.[3]

Woody Johnson
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Assumed office
November 8, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyLewis Lukens
Yael Lempert
Preceded byMatthew Barzun
Personal details
Born
Robert Wood Johnson IV

(1947-04-12) April 12, 1947
New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Nancy Sale
​
(
m. 1977; div. 2001)

Suzanne Ircha
(
m. 2009)
Children5
ParentsBobby Johnson
Betty Wold
RelativesChristopher Johnson
ResidenceWinfield House
EducationUniversity of Arizona (BA)
Net worth$4.2 billion

He is the co-owner of the New York Jets of the National Football League[4][5] along with his brother, Christopher, and is the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Johnson Company, Inc., a private investment firm founded in 1978.

Early life

Johnson was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. He is the son of Betty (Wold) and Robert Wood Johnson III, president of Johnson & Johnson for four years. Johnson grew up with four siblings, Keith Johnson, Billy Johnson, Elizabeth "Libet" Johnson, and Christopher Wold Johnson, in affluent areas of northern New Jersey, and attended the Millbrook School. He graduated from the University of Arizona. Johnson then worked menial summer jobs at Johnson & Johnson with the expectation of ascending to the top of the family business.[6]

Career

Sports

In January 2000, Johnson purchased the Jets for $635 million, at the time the third-highest price for a professional sports team and the highest for a New York professional sports team.[7] Johnson outbid the offer of $612 million placed by Charles Dolan, the owner of the Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks, and New York Rangers.[7] Forbes valued the team at $3.2 billion as of September 2019.[8]

After buying the Jets, Johnson announced plans to move them to the proposed West Side Stadium in Manhattan. However, after the project's defeat in 2005, Johnson announced the Jets would move to a new Meadowlands Stadium as an equal partner with the Giants. The new stadium opened on April 10, 2010, with naming rights being acquired by MetLife. Johnson served on the NFL Commissioner search committee in which a list of 185 candidates to succeed Paul Tagliabue was narrowed down to the final choice of Roger Goodell.

Johnson is the chairman and chief executive of the Johnson Company, Inc., a private investment firm founded in 1978. In August 2006, Johnson was asked to testify before the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations regarding his participation in a tax avoidance scheme. A Senate report said that Johnson, along with others, was able to buy, for relatively small fees, roughly $2 billion in capital losses that they used to erase taxable gains they garnered from stock sales. The U.S. Treasury lost an estimated $300 million in revenue as a result. In a statement, Johnson said he had been advised by his lawyers in 2000 that the transaction "was consistent with the Tax Code." After the Internal Revenue Service challenged that view in 2003, Johnson in 2006 settled with the IRS and agreed to pay 100 percent of the tax due plus interest.[9]

Johnson was the committee president of the Pre-Commissioning Unit for the San Antonio-class ship USS New York.[10]

Politics
Johnson's first official Ambassador portrait

Fundraising for Republicans

Johnson has given more than $1 million to various Republican candidates and committees. In May 2008, he orchestrated a fundraiser in New York City that brought in $7 million in a single evening for John McCain's presidential campaign, by far the largest amount collected up to that point by a campaign that had been struggling to raise money. Johnson also provided significant funding to 2008 Republican National Convention host committee; from a $10 million shortfall, Johnson contributed personally and solicited friends to assist in covering the convention deficit.[11] In 2011, Johnson endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries.[12]

In September 2013, Johnson hosted a fundraiser for the Republican National Committee (RNC) at his home in New York City.[13]

In the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Johnson initially endorsed Jeb Bush, and in June 2015, was named the National Finance Chairman for Bush's 2016 presidential campaign.[14] After initially endorsing Jeb Bush, Johnson in May 2016 endorsed Donald Trump for president.[15][3]

Johnson had by August 2019 donated $1.5 million to Donald Trump's campaign and inaugural committee.[16]

In February 2020, Johnson gave $575,000 to a fundraising committee for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, and $355,000 to the RNC.[17] In May 2020, he gave $1 million to America First Action, Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC.[17]

United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom

Appointment

On January 19, 2017, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he planned to nominate Johnson to become United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom.[18][19] On June 22, 2017, Trump nominated Johnson for the position.[20] Prior to becoming ambassador, he had no diplomatic experience.[3] Following a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee,[21] Johnson was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 3, 2017,[22] by voice vote.[2] He was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on August 21, 2017, in the Oval Office. Johnson presented his credentials to Queen Elizabeth II on November 8, 2017.[23]

Inspector General investigation into alleged racist and sexist comments

It was reported in July 2020 that Johnson was being investigated by the State Department inspector general over both sexist and racist comments he made to embassy staff. He had been reported to have held official meetings at men-only clubs in London, which meant that female staff members would not be able to attend. Johnson denied the allegations.[24][17] According to the New York Times, half a dozen current and former embassy employees said that Johnson made Black and female staff members uncomfortable by making remarks about their appearances or race.[25] One diplomat said he made disparaging remarks about Black History Month.[26]

Chlorinated-chicken incident

In March 2019, Johnson wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph saying that chlorinated chicken was a "public safety no-brainer" and that health fears over hormone-fed beef were "myths".[27] This came after he urged the UK to open up to the US agriculture market after the British exit from the European Union and ignore the "smear campaign" of those with "their own protectionist agenda".[28] Johnson was criticised by several agriculture standard boards, such as the Red Tractor Assurance whose CEO, Jim Moseley stated the UK's food standards were "now under threat from ... the United States food lobby" and the National Farmers Union who said it was "imperative" that UK food standards remain high.[28]

British Open at Trump Turnberry

In February 2018, Johnson as ambassador sought to have the lucrative British Open golf tournament moved to Trump's Turnberry Golf Resort in Scotland, raising the idea with Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell.[3] The New York Times reported, and the former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in London Lewis Lukens later confirmed, that Trump had asked Johnson to seek British government influence in obtaining the Open for Turnberry.[3][29] At the time Lukens warned Johnson not to raise the question with the UK government, saying that an attempt to further the president's personal financial interests in this way would be unethical and probably illegal. Johnson did so anyway, unsuccessfully.[3][29] In a subsequent interview, Lukens stated: "The ambassador came back from a meeting at the White House, the very next morning he came and talked to me, said the President wants me to do this. Who should I talk to, how should I go about doing it? I said, 'You can't, you shouldn't do it. This is unethical, probably illegal.' A couple weeks later, he asked again, I gave him the same answer. And then he went and had a meeting with a British minister responsible for Scotland and made the request, or made the suggestion at least."[29]

In a statement, the British government said that Johnson "made no request of Mr. Mundell regarding the British Open or any other sporting event"; the statement did not say whether Johnson had raised the subject of Turnberry.[3] Johnson did not deny the episode, saying only that he complied with "the ethical rules and requirements of my office"; Trump denied that he had ever spoken to Johnson "about Turnberry."[30] Lukens documented his concerns to State Department officials. Johnson forced out Lukens several months later, before the scheduled end of his tenure in London.[3] The report that Johnson used his position as ambassador to promote the president's personal business interests sparked an inquiry by the State Department inspector general's office.[17] In an interview in August 2020, Lukens said that the inspector general's report had "screeched to a halt" without a public report being issued, which Lukens described as highly unusual.[29]

Personal life
Woody Johnson and his wife Suzanne Ircha Johnson with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump

In 1977, Johnson married former fashion model Nancy Sale Johnson. They had three children before divorcing in 2001. In early 2010, daughter Casey Johnson died of diabetic ketoacidosis.[31] He started a research foundation, the Alliance for Lupus Research, after his daughter Jaime was found to have lupus.[32]

In 2009, Johnson married Suzanne Ircha Johnson, a former actress and equities managing director at Sandler O'Neill & Partners.[33][34] They have two children.[35]

Johnson has homes in Bedminster Township, New Jersey, and Manhattan, New York City.[36]

References
  1. "Woody Johnson nominated as US ambassador to Britain". The Guardian. June 22, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  2. "PN691 — Robert Wood Johnson IV — Department of State". Congress.gov. United States Congress.
  3. Landler, Mark; Jakes, Lara; Haberman, Maggie (July 21, 2020). "Trump's Request of an Ambassador: Get the British Open for Me". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  4. "Sale Johnson and Ahmad Rashad Get Married Monday". Transworldnews.com. November 21, 2007. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  5. Richard Sandomir (January 12, 2000). "Philanthropist and Fan". New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2008. Robert Wood Johnson IV, whose great-grandfather founded Johnson & Johnson, won the right yesterday to buy the Jets for $635 million, the third-highest price for a professional sports team and the most for one in New York.
  6. Wilson, Duff (November 11, 2004). "Behind the Jets, a Private Man Pushes His Dream". New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2010. He grew up in affluent areas of New Jersey, attended the elite Millbrook School in the Hudson Valley and worked menial summer jobs at Johnson & Johnson with the expectation of ascending to the top of the family business.
  7. Richard Sandomir (January 12, 2000). "The Jets Fill One Opening: New Owner at $635 Million". New York Times.
  8. "New York Jets Team Value". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  9. Birnbaum, Jeffrey H. (August 1, 2006). "Tax Shelters Saved Billionaires a Bundle". The Washington Post.
  10. "Navy News Service - Eye on the Fleet". September 4, 2009. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009.
  11. Luo, Michael (September 5, 2008). "Convention Limelight Shines on a Big Donor". The New York Times.
  12. Haberman, Maggie (November 11, 2011). "Woody Johnson says Chris Christie's Mitt Romney endorsement a game-changer". Politico.
  13. "GOP stars to headline party fundraiser". CNN. August 26, 2013.
  14. Reinhard, Beth; O'Connor, Patrick (June 24, 2015). "Jeb Bush Picks Woody Johnson as Finance Chairman". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  15. Cosentino, Dom (May 24, 2016). "Jets owner Woody Johnson backs Donald Trump, per reports". nj.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  16. Pramuk, Jacob; Schwartz, Brian (August 12, 2019). "Trump's money ties to NFL owners go much deeper than Dolphins' Stephen Ross". CNBC. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  17. Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood and Nicole Gaouette. "NFL owner and Trump ambassador to UK sparks watchdog probe over alleged racist and sexist remarks and a push to promote Trump business". CNN. Retrieved July 23, 2020.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  18. Borger, Julian (January 19, 2017). "New York Jets owner Woody Johnson to be US ambassador to UK". The Guardian. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  19. Schouten, Fredreka (May 17, 2017). "President Trump's ambassador picks sit in limbo". USA Today. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  20. Zurcher, Anthony (June 23, 2017). "Woody Johnson: Trump picks NFL tycoon as UK ambassador". BBC News. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  21. "Tracking how many key positions Trump has filled so far". Washington Post. July 14, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  22. Bieler, Des (August 3, 2017). "Jets owner Woody Johnson confirmed as ambassador to the U.K." Washington Post. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  23. "Donald Trump's man in London presents credentials to Queen". Belfast Telegraph. November 8, 2017. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  24. "US ambassador to UK denies making racist remarks". BBC News. July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  25. Landler, Mark; Jakes, Lara; Haberman, Maggie (July 24, 2020). "Woody Johnson Was a Loyal Trump Supporter in 2016. As an Ambassador, He May Be Too Loyal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  26. Belson, Ken (July 25, 2020). "As N.F.L. Fights Racism and Sexism, Team Owners Undercut the Message". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  27. "UK-US trade deal: Envoy attacks 'myths' about US farming". BBC. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  28. Doward, Jamie (March 2, 2019). "US ambassador to UK under fire over defence of chlorinated chicken". The Guardian. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  29. Chris Ryan, Former U.S. official details Jets' Woody Johnson's request to have U.K. move British Open to Trump's resort, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com (August 6, 2020).
  30. Peter Baker, Trump Denies Talking to Ambassador About Moving British Open to His Resort, New York Times (July 22, 2020).
  31. "Coroner: Casey Johnson died of natural causes - CNN.com". CNN. February 4, 2010.
  32. Halligan, Tom. "NY Jets' Woody Johnson Shares Insights At LCT Show East". LCT. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  33. "Wall Street firms vow to rebuild". USA Today. January 25, 2002.
  34. "The Hollywood Gossip - Celebrity Gossip and Entertainment News". Bittenandbound.com. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  35. Grant Cumberbatch, Aimee (June 25, 2018). "Who Is Robert Wood 'Woody' Johnson? The U.S. Ambassador Is A Personal Friend Of Trump". Bustle. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  36. Sandomir, Richard (January 12, 2000). "The Jets Fill One Opening: New Owner at $635 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2010. Johnson, who is 52 years old, has homes in Manhattan and Bedminster, N.J.

Media related to Woody Johnson at Wikimedia Commons

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Matthew Barzun		 United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
2017–present		 Incumbent
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