Imogene Powers Johnson

Imogene Powers Johnson, the billionaire widow of SC Johnson CEO Samuel C. Johnson and a longtime philanthropist, died over the weekend. She was 87. Johnson, who was known as Gene by friends and family, was worth an estimated $3.7 billion at the time of her death. She met her husband Samuel at Cornell University in 1948 where she was a mathematics major. After graduation, she went on to work as an engineering mathematician at Ryan Aeronautical in San Diego. In 1954, Imogene and Samuel were married and moved to Racine, Wisconsin, where SC Johnson was based. There she turned her attention to her family and philanthropy. In 1965, she cofounded a private college preparatory school called The Prairie School, which originally catered to children of SC Johnson workers. She also had an avid interest in birds and other wildlife and sat on the board of organizations including The Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity at Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology and the River Bend Nature Center. Widow of Samuel Curtis Johnson (d. 2004), great-grandson of salesman who started wax company 1886. Diversified into industrial cleaning, banking and camping supplies. Kids each attended Sam's alma mater, Cornell, before joining company. Powers is a shareholder of SC Johnson & Son, the maker of household products for home cleaning, storage personal care and insect control. The Racine, Wisconsin-based company had revenue of $10 billion in 2016. The billionaire shares control of the business with family members, including her four children. The privately-held company, which was founded in 1886, is now run by the fifth generation of the Johnson family. It pulls in revenues that are estimated to be approximately $10 billion a year. Imogene is survived by her four children -- Helen, Fisk, Winnie and Curt -- who are also each billionaires based on their stakes in the company. Together, they are estimated to own about half of SC Johnson.