Johnson is an heir to the Johnson & Johnson consumer products fortune and owner of the National Football League's New York Jets. He owned the cable provider American Video Corp. in the 1970s and purchased the New York Jets for $635 million in 2000. Johnson was the US ambassador to the UK from 2017 until 2021.
Johnson's fortune originated with inherited shares of Johnson & Johnson, the New Jersey consumer products company that was co-founded by his great-grandfather.
He and his family owns shares in J&J as well as the New York Jets football team, which he purchased from the estate of Leon Hess in 2000 for $635 million. The Jets are valued at $8.11 billion, according to an August 2025 report by valuation consultants Sportico.
In June 2025, Johnson bought a minority stake in the Premier League's Crystal Palace FC, according to a Bloomberg report. He's credited with a 42.9% stake in the club, which is valued based on a May 2025 analysis from Sportico.
His other assets are controlled through The Johnson Company, a closely held family office, and were reported in a March 2017 financial disclosure to the federal Office of Government Ethics as part of his nomination to be the US ambassador to the UK. The form lists more than 1,100 assets and liabilities each with an indicated value range. His stake in Johnson & Johnson is determined by dividing reported dividend income of "over $5 million" by the prior 12 months of dividend payments by the company.
Laura Gersh, a spokesperson for Johnson, declined to comment on the billionaire's net worth.
Robert Wood "Woody" Johnson IV is a fourth generation heir of the Johnson & Johnson family fortune, according to a news release from the New York Jets dated June 22, 2017, and his great-grandfather was one of the founders of the consumer products company.
Johnson worked just one summer at the company, preferring to strike out on his own in business. Among his early successes was the building and sale of a cable company in Florida in the 1970s, according to a New York Times profile of Jan. 12, 2000.
Through his New York family office, The Johnson Company, the billionaire has managed his own investments as well as an undisclosed amount of other family members assets and charitable assets.
Johnson purchased the New York Jets football team in January 2000, paying $635 million to the estate of oil baron Leon Hess for the franchise, according to the New York Times.
He was nominated to the US ambassador to the UK in June 2017 by President Donald Trump, who he supported in his first campaign for the White House.
Johnson purchased a minority stake in the Premier League's Crystal Palace FC in 2025.