The idea triggered something in Johnson. Why not start a cable channel for blacks?

"My feeling was, boy, if I didn't do this and someone else started the first African-American-oriented cable channel, I'd be kicking myself the rest of my life," Johnson says.

In 1979, Johnson left NCTA to start BET. Although he had no business experience, he convinced John Malone, then head of a cable network, to invest in his venture. With a $15,000 bank loan, Johnson launched his company.

Johnson did not have capital to invest in content for BET. He realized that another cable network, MTV, owed its success to rock videos, which record companies offered free to promote their artists. But except for Michael Jackson, MTV seldom featured black artists. So Johnson started featuring African-American performers. BET's audience grew.

By the time Johnson sold BET to Viacom in 2001, his network was worth $3 billion. The company had expanded into radio, movies, books and the Internet.

Not bad for a kid from Hickory, Mississippi, who was the only one of ten siblings to go to college. Johnson graduated from the University of Illinois and has a master's in international affairs from Princeton.

Viacom insisted that Johnson stay on at BET for five years. But America's first black billionaire was already widening his financial interests to include real estate, hotels, fast food, gaming and entertainment. This year, Johnson realized a lifelong dream when be became the first African-American owner of a National Basketball Association franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats.

The recipient of many cable-industry and community awards, Johnson feels he hit the jackpot with the Bobcats. Unveiling the team logo, he told a crowd in Charlotte, "This is the proudest day of my life."