When Robert Johnson decided last year to leave Black Entertainment Television, the network he founded in 1980, he had no shortage of employment offers. After all, Johnson had shown his business acumen by parlaying a $15,000 loan and a $500,000 equity investment from cable impresario John Malone into the media empire that he sold to Viacom for $3 billion in 2001.
One proposal was from good friend William Kennard, who had joined Carlyle Group in 2001 after a stint as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Johnson wasn’t interested in working for the Washington-based buyout firm, but he did strike up a conversation with Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein about a possible joint venture.
The result: RLJ Cos., the holding company Johnson started after the Viacom sale, is forming a private equity firm that will invest mostly in minority-owned media, financial and business services companies. Carlyle is providing 20 percent of the seed capital and may coinvest with RLJ.
Private equity is just part of the plan for Johnson, 59, whose holdings include the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats. RLJ already has $800 million in assets split between two real estate investment vehicles, RLJ Development and the RLJ Urban Lodging Fund. In November he announced a partnership with Deutsche Asset Management to develop funds of hedge funds and other investment products for public pension systems -- many of which allocate a portion of their assets to emerging or minority managers -- as well as for corporate pensions and wealthy individuals.
“I’ve been very successful at establishing joint ventures and partnerships, and this one I’m very proud of,” Johnson says of the Carlyle deal. “It’s part of my goal to create the preeminent African-American firm in asset management.” Don’t bet against him.
