BET Becomes First Black-Owned Company Listed on NYSE

On October 30, 1991, Black Entertainment Television (BET), founded by Robert L. Johnson, became the first Black-owned company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares were bid up to over $23 on the first day, giving the company a market value of $475 million. Johnson would later become America's first Black billionaire when BET sold to Viacom.