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SJ
Sheila Johnson
VirginiaMedia
D
18
Giving Score
~$1.2B
Profile Summary
Sheila Johnson is a U.S. media-industry billionaire born in 1949, with an estimated net worth of ~$1.2B RTB. News reporting identifies her as a co-founder of BET, CEO of Salamander Hotels, and a shareholder of the Capitals, Mystics, and Wizards NewsAPI.
Philanthropy
Three Johnson Foundation organizations in North Carolina, New York, and Iowa reported combined assets of $8,122,238 and $320,961 in grants paid in 2023 ProPublica 990. The New York foundation reported $259,165 in grants paid, compared with $61,521 for the Iowa foundation and $275 for the North Carolina foundation ProPublica 990.
Political Activity
The most recent 100 federal contribution records on file show at least $1,008.99 in contributions; these sampled records span June 16 to July 30, 2026 and are not a complete history FEC. Of that sampled total, $844.24 was classified as Unknown, $125 as Democratic, and $39.75 as Republican; listed recipients include ActBlue ($576), WinRed ($143.11), SEAL PAC Supporting Electing American Leaders PAC ($100), Jon Ossoff for Senate ($100), and the NRSC ($35) FEC.
These donations are matched to this person by name only, so some may belong to a different person with the same name: FEC filings can include a donor's employer and city, but our matching does not check them against what we know about this person.
In the News
Axios reported on August 5, 2026, that Johnson sold her Arlington, Virginia, home for $3.15 million in a private sale NewsAPI. The report described the house as having five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and more than 8,000 square feet NewsAPI.
U.S. Presence
residenceThe Plains, Virginia
Philanthropy
Foundations are matched to a person by name, not by trustee records — so a same-surname family foundation can land here in error. Every entity below links to its full IRS filing; if one doesn’t belong, tell us at hello@skylarkcreations.com and we’ll pull it.
$8.1MFoundation Assets
$321KGrants Paid
3Foundations
Johnson FoundationSalisbury, NC
Assets: $2.9MRevenue: $440KGrants: $275Tax Year: 2023
Mission, purpose & full 990 filings → ProPublica Nonprofit ExplorerJohnson FoundationNew York, NY
Assets: $4.4MRevenue: $116KGrants: $259KTax Year: 2023
Mission, purpose & full 990 filings → ProPublica Nonprofit ExplorerJohnson FoundationChariton, IA
Assets: $807KRevenue: $49KGrants: $62KTax Year: 2023
Mission, purpose & full 990 filings → ProPublica Nonprofit ExplorerPolitical Contributions
$1K+In Records We Hold
9801Contributions On File
2026–2026Range Shown
These figures cover the 100 most recent of 9,801 federal contributions on file, not the full record. The total, party split, top recipients and dates below are all computed over that sample, so each is a floor rather than a complete figure.
By Party (in the sample)
Every party in this sample is listed here. The bars are rounded for display; unrounded they total exactly $1,008.99.
Top Recipients (in the sample)
ACTBLUE$576
WINRED$143.11
SEAL PAC SUPPORTING ELECTING AMERICAN LEADERS PAC$100
JON OSSOFF FOR SENATE$100
NRSC$35
Matched by name only. These donations are matched to this person by name only, so some may belong to a different person with the same name: FEC filings can include a donor's employer and city, but our matching does not check them against what we know about this person.
News Coverage
Coverage window: 2026-08-05 · retrieved 8/22/2026
Score Breakdown
D
18
Giving score
The giving score is a weighted average of 2 components. The formula is open and versioned — the weight percentages below show how much each component contributes to the final score.
Philanthropy65% weight
Evidenced charitable giving — built on what they actually give each year, not parked assets. Dominated by generosity (annual giving relative to net worth — the share of your fortune you give), plus the absolute scale of that giving, plus a small nudge for signing the Giving Pledge (a commitment, not a realized action).
Data: ProPublica 990 charitable disbursements, net worth, The Giving Pledge registry
Data coverage35% weight
How much sourced public record we hold about this person — net worth, SEC filings, foundation 990s, news coverage, Wikidata. It measures our coverage, not how open the person is. Each further kind of record scores higher, up to eight. Political donation records matched to a person by name alone are not counted: they may belong to someone else with the same name. From October 7, 2026, our own AI-written summary and the profile photo are not counted either — neither is a public record — so grades that leaned on them moved down that day.
Data: SEC EDGAR, ProPublica 990s, GDELT / NewsAPI, Wikidata
Formula (v2): Giving score = 65% x Philanthropy + 35% x Data coverage
Scored on 10/16/2026 on a 0–100 scale. The score uses only the signals we have populated data for. Goal Impact, Controversy, and Community Approval are deferred until that data exists — Phase 1 goal adoption, controversy detection, and community votes respectively.
All data is sourced from public records. Each section links to its original source.