Robert L. Johnson is the Founder and Chairman of The RLJ Companies, an innovative business network that owns or holds interests in a diverse portfolio of companies in the banking, private equity, real estate, hospitality, professional sports, film production, gaming and automobile dealership industries. In July 2007, Johnson was named by USA Today as one of the 25 most influential business leaders of the past 25 years.

Core assets of The RLJ Companies include:

RLJ Development, LLC/RLJ Urban Lodging Funds is a privately-held real estate investment company that primarily owns upscale select service and compact full service hotels in major markets in North America. The RLJ Urban Lodging Funds currently own 120 hotels with more than 17,000 guestrooms and a portfolio value of approximately $2 billion, and have nearly $2 billion in equity under management from several major public and corporate pension funds and financial institutions.

RLJ Equity Partners, LLC was founded together with The Carlyle Group and specializes in middle-market leveraged buy-outs, leveraged recapitalizations, and growth equity. RLJ Equity Partners’ strategy is to make control investments through affiliated private equity investment limited partnerships. RLJ Equity Partners invests in companies with enterprise values between $50M and $250M within aerospace/defense; automotive/transportation; business services; consumer/retail; general industrial and media sectors. As of April 2010, RLJ Equity Partners has 3 portfolio companies.

Urban Trust Bank (UTB)® is a minority-controlled federally chartered savings bank that provides a range of services including deposit products and mortgages to diverse, underserved, and urban communities. Headquartered in Orlando, FL, Urban Trust Bank currently operates 26 branches across Florida and the Washington, DC region, including three standalone branches and 23 branches within Walmart® stores. Walmart® is a registered trademark of Walmart Stores, Inc.

RolloverSystems, a financial services company based in Charlotte, NC is the leading provider of outsourced retirement plan rollover services for financial services institutions, plan sponsors, and third party administrators. RolloverSystems provides 401(K) and IRA rollover services for terminated employees who are leaving their current employer for a new job or retirement. RolloverSystems improves fiduciary risks for employers by offering full service “outplacement” services to terminated employees and reduces costs and administrative burdens of tracking and maintaining benefits for terminated employees.

RLJ Western Asset Management, LLC is the only minority-owned entity designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as a pre-qualified fund manager to participate in the Public Private Investment Fund Program (PPIP). RLJ Western Asset is focused on residential mortgage backed securities and is designed to allow banks and other financial institutions to re-deploy capital and extend new credit to households and businesses. To date, RLJ Western Asset has raised $610M for the fund.

RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings, LLC is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas and consists of 35 automotive franchises and three Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealerships across the South Central, Southeast, and Midwest regions of the country. RLJ-McLarty-Landers was ranked 31st on the Automotive News annual list of “Top 125 Dealerships in the U.S.”

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment, which is comprised of the franchise and arena operations, is a professional basketball team and member of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Bobcats debuted in 2004 and is a part of the Southeast Division of the NBA’s Eastern Conference. The Bobcats play home games at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC. On March 17, 2010, Bob Johnson sold majority ownership to Michael Jordan and MJ Basketball Holdings, LLC. Johnson retains a minority ownership interest and serves as the Bobcats’ governor to the NBA.

Caribbean CAGE, LLC is a route-installed gaming company headquartered in Puerto Rico that focuses on the installation, operation and management of video lottery terminals (VLTs), linked gaming systems and game content throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. CAGE has entered into several strategic alliances to install and operate VLTs in targeted Caribbean countries with the goal of enhancing local economies and employment opportunities.

Our Stories Films, LLC is the first African-American owned film production studio that produces theatrical motion pictures that showcase the talents of African Americans on both sides of the camera and in the creative process. Founded in 2006, Our Stories Films is headquartered in Hollywood, CA and targets underserved, urban audiences within the family and urban comedy genre with a production budget of $5M-$7M per film.

The RLJ Kendeja Resort & Villas is a 78-room villa style hotel located on 13-acres of ocean front property overlooking the Atlantic Ocean outside of Monrovia, Liberia. The four-star luxury resort is the first of its kind in Liberia and one of the first in all of West Africa. Construction began in March 2008 and the resort property opened in June 2009.

Prior to forming The RLJ Companies, Mr. Johnson was founder and chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET), the nation’s first and leading television network providing quality entertainment, music, news, sports and public affairs programming for the African American audience. Under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, BET became the first African American-owned company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2001, Mr. Johnson sold BET to Viacom for approximately $3 billion and remained the Chief Executive Officer through 2006.

Currently, Mr. Johnson serves on the following boards:

• KB Home
• Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
• Strayer Education
• International Management Group
• NBA Board of Governors
• Deutsche Bank Advisory Committee
• The Business Council
• Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture