George Dean Johnson Jr. | |
---|---|
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives for Spartanburg County | |
In office 1969–1974 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Columbia, South Carolina | July 22, 1942
Political party | Republican |
Alma mater | BA from Wofford College in 1964 and JD from University of South Carolina Law School in 1967 |
Occupation | lawyer |
George Dean Johnson Jr. (born July 22, 1942) [1] is an American politician in the state of South Carolina. He was brought up in Spartanburg. [1] He served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1969 to 1974, elected as Democratic, Republican and Independent, [1] representing Spartanburg County, South Carolina. He is a lawyer. [2] [3]
George D. Johnson Jr. founded multiple companies, including Extended Stay America, [4] Advance America Cash Advance, [5] and Johnson Waste, which was later sold to Waste Management, Incorporated. [6]
He later served on many NYSE publicly traded boards including Extended Stay America, Advance America Cash Advance, AutoNation, Inc., Florida Panthers, Duke Energy Corporation, Morgan Corporation, Inc. Boca Resorts, Viacom, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Home Choice, Inc., Alrenco, Inc., William Barnet & Sons, Inc. and Bankers Trust of South Carolina. Wayne Huizenga was his business partner in the creation of Extended Stay America and later was involved in the creation of a major Blockbuster franchise, which eventually included 208 stores. [6] The pair later merged with Blockbuster, where Johnson was named a company president. [6] [7]
Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-most populous city in the state. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) groups Spartanburg and Union counties together as the Spartanburg, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Blockbuster is an American multimedia brand. The business was founded by David Cook in 1985 as a single home video rental shop, but later became a public store chain featuring video game rentals, DVD-by-mail, streaming, video on demand, and cinema theater. The company expanded internationally throughout the 1990s. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster employed 84,300 people worldwide and operated 9,094 stores.
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Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr. was an American businessman. He founded AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., and was the owner or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL), the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB).
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Extended Stay America, Inc., headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the operator of an economy apartment hotel chain in the United States and Canada. Prior to June 2021, when the company was acquired by Blackstone Real Estate and the Starwood Capital Group, it was publicly traded as a "paired share" with ESH Hospitality, Inc., a real estate investment trust and the owner of the hotels. As of 2022, there are 650+ Extended Stay America branded hotels.
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