From the founders of the international health-care behemoth Johnson & Johnson in the late 1800s to the contemporary Johnsons of today, such as billionaire New York Jets owner Robert Wood "Woody" Johnson IV, all is revealed in this scrupulously researched, unauthorized biography by New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer. Often compared to the Kennedy clan because of the tragedies and scandals that had befallen both wealthy and powerful families, Crazy Rich, based on scores of exclusive, candid, on-the-record interviews, reveals how the dynasty's vast fortune was both intoxicating and toxic through the generations of a family that gave the world Band-Aids and Baby Oil. At the same time, they've been termed perhaps the most dysfunctional family in the fortune 500. Oppenheimer is the author of biographies of the Kennedys, the Clintons, the Hiltons and Martha Stewart, among other American icons.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"A prolific biographer of the rich and infamous, Oppenheimer digs into five generations of the Johnson family . . . detailing their mind-boggling personal wealth. . . . A fast-paced chronicle of births, courtings, marriages, divorces, estrangements, bitter lawsuits, drug and alcohol abuses, crimes, memorable deaths and other unpleasantness. . . . A character-driven saga suggesting that the spoiled rich are their own worst enemies." —Kirkus Reviews
“A wicked debunking of Stewart’s carefully crafted persona.” —People on Just Desserts
“After reading House of Hilton, you'll wonder why anyone wouldn't beg to be dropped from the speed dial of a family that makes the Osbournes look like the Brady Bunch.”
—The New York Times
About the Author
JERRY OPPENHEIMER is the bestselling author of unauthorized biographies of public figures including Hillary and Bill Clinton, Anna Wintour, Rock Hudson, Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters, Ethel Kennedy, Jerry Seinfeld, and the Hilton family. In addition to being a biographer he has also worked in several different capacities as a journalist, including as an investigative reporter and a producer of television news programs and documentaries.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By WRB
Format:Hardcover
A very secretive family who have always played by their own rules, the Johnson family is one of the richest and most powerful families in the world. Their fortune was intoxicating and toxic at the same time. They were also a very complicated family, but very stoic, rarely showing their emotions.
The Johnson dynasty began with three relatively uneducated, but ambitious brothers, Robert, James, and Edward Mead Johnson. They founded the world's largest health-care business in 1888. Before long it developed into more than 250 companies located in sixty countries. The red "Johnson & Johnson" script on the company's products became extremely well known and successful. In 1892 Johnson's Baby Powder was introduced, which was a mix of talc and medicated plaster that had a very distinctive aroma that reportedly has never changed.
The Johnson dynasty has been plagued by scandels, tragedies, and misfortune. Most of the horrors they've faced have been attributed to their vast fortune. It seemed money was both a blessing and a curse for the Johnson family. Drug addiction, alcoholish, adultery, homosexuality, child abuse in the form of molestation, suspected kidnapping, a murder plot, a shooting, tragic accidents, and suicide are all part of the ongoing drama in this book. The family had a closet full of embarrassing skeletons that have surfaced over several generations.
The following paragraph, taken from the book, pretty much sums it up.
"They're a mixed up, weird bunch, and always have been. You couldn't make them up in fiction. They are dysfunctional and just don't know how to live a normal life. The whole family is like a great big spiderweb that innocent people would drop into - normal people who get caught in the Johnson web of craziness. Read more ›
The Johnson dynasty began with three relatively uneducated, but ambitious brothers, Robert, James, and Edward Mead Johnson. They founded the world's largest health-care business in 1888. Before long it developed into more than 250 companies located in sixty countries. The red "Johnson & Johnson" script on the company's products became extremely well known and successful. In 1892 Johnson's Baby Powder was introduced, which was a mix of talc and medicated plaster that had a very distinctive aroma that reportedly has never changed.
The Johnson dynasty has been plagued by scandels, tragedies, and misfortune. Most of the horrors they've faced have been attributed to their vast fortune. It seemed money was both a blessing and a curse for the Johnson family. Drug addiction, alcoholish, adultery, homosexuality, child abuse in the form of molestation, suspected kidnapping, a murder plot, a shooting, tragic accidents, and suicide are all part of the ongoing drama in this book. The family had a closet full of embarrassing skeletons that have surfaced over several generations.
The following paragraph, taken from the book, pretty much sums it up.
"They're a mixed up, weird bunch, and always have been. You couldn't make them up in fiction. They are dysfunctional and just don't know how to live a normal life. The whole family is like a great big spiderweb that innocent people would drop into - normal people who get caught in the Johnson web of craziness. Read more ›
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Woody Johnson: Finding an Identity Despite a Dysfunctional Family
August 13, 2013
Format:Hardcover
Crazy Rich is the story of the highly dysfunctional Johnson family, the ones who brought you the band-aid, Modess, and Johnson's Baby Powder along with other medical innovations like sterile surgical dressings. While the book tells the tales of the many Johnson problems: multiple divorces, drug addiction, and alcoholism to name a few; the focus is on Woody Johnson, a member of the third generation, who found an identity apart from the family as the owner of the Jets and major bundler for the GOP.
Although the focus is on Woody, the book begins and ends with him plus an internal chapter, Woody's Secrets, recounts his accident prone adolescence, there are plenty of tales of the rest of the family, from Robert Wood Johnson, the General, who forced all his family members out of the company to maintain personal control to his brother Seward, Sr. who in his old age married his chambermaid, Basia, and left her his millions much to the chagrin of his children. The court battle that resulted titillated Princeton when I lived there.
I recommend this book. It has many outlandish tales of Johnson escapades, primarily dysfunctional marriages and bitter divorces, but it also tells the story of a family who revolutionized health care. The three brothers of the first generation were very good business men, ready to capitalize on a good idea. Robert Wood Johnson in the second generation kept the company together with an iron hand. Perhaps this is what the company needed. The family needed to branch out into other pursuits, but generally were unsuccessful in doing so. This is what makes Woody Johnson's story the most interesting in the third generation.
I reviewed this book for Net Galley.
Although the focus is on Woody, the book begins and ends with him plus an internal chapter, Woody's Secrets, recounts his accident prone adolescence, there are plenty of tales of the rest of the family, from Robert Wood Johnson, the General, who forced all his family members out of the company to maintain personal control to his brother Seward, Sr. who in his old age married his chambermaid, Basia, and left her his millions much to the chagrin of his children. The court battle that resulted titillated Princeton when I lived there.
I recommend this book. It has many outlandish tales of Johnson escapades, primarily dysfunctional marriages and bitter divorces, but it also tells the story of a family who revolutionized health care. The three brothers of the first generation were very good business men, ready to capitalize on a good idea. Robert Wood Johnson in the second generation kept the company together with an iron hand. Perhaps this is what the company needed. The family needed to branch out into other pursuits, but generally were unsuccessful in doing so. This is what makes Woody Johnson's story the most interesting in the third generation.
I reviewed this book for Net Galley.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
"They have been called perhaps the most dysfunctional family in the Fortune 500."
August 13, 2013
Format:Hardcover
This book poses the thought that while power corrupts, great unearned wealthcan create great dysfunction. "Crazy Rich" discusses the Johnson and Johnson company whose five generations are labeled "the most dysfunctional family in the Fortune 500. While the founders and many of the descendants worked diligently and constantly for the growth of the business; political connections, ruthlessness, and entitlement all played their parts in the growth of this giant that came to stand for health care in America. Perhaps most illustrative for me is the appropriation of Clara Barton's Red Cross for its bandaging products. As this theft caught up with him, Woody charmed the early nurse crusader and paid her a dollar for the copyright. She was absorbed into the company, and very few people realize the distinction from the International Red Cross.
To be sure, the Johson's revolutionized many aspects of health care, most prominently the provision of sterile, individual dressings for wounds. As these replaced the dirty rags of war and peace use, countless lives were saved. Indeed the creed of the company was to provide the highest quality. But in five generations, some standards have slipped, notably the hiding of risperdal side effects. The shear size of the family demanded branching out into other pursuits, especially for the son fired by the General who brooked no poaching of power.
Most recently we know of the purchase of the Jets, almost as a personal play thing by Woody Johnson who also dabbled in high stakes politics. This is a man whom Sarah Palin thought might be too Republican for her. Throughout the book, divorces, law suits, cheating, drug use and death, acedemic failure all decorate the family tree of a family brought up to expect only the best. Read more ›
To be sure, the Johson's revolutionized many aspects of health care, most prominently the provision of sterile, individual dressings for wounds. As these replaced the dirty rags of war and peace use, countless lives were saved. Indeed the creed of the company was to provide the highest quality. But in five generations, some standards have slipped, notably the hiding of risperdal side effects. The shear size of the family demanded branching out into other pursuits, especially for the son fired by the General who brooked no poaching of power.
Most recently we know of the purchase of the Jets, almost as a personal play thing by Woody Johnson who also dabbled in high stakes politics. This is a man whom Sarah Palin thought might be too Republican for her. Throughout the book, divorces, law suits, cheating, drug use and death, acedemic failure all decorate the family tree of a family brought up to expect only the best. Read more ›
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