Ron Johnson
Ron Johnson is a retail executive, author of Shop Different, and creator of the Apple Store. He previously led merchandising at Target, served as Apple’s head of retail, and was CEO of J.C. Penney.
Apple’s Stores Build Customer Relationships That Online Shopping Cannot Replace
Ron Johnson argues that retail can adapt to online shopping and AI without losing the customer relationships that physical stores help build and sustain. He sees AI improving shopping across channels, but says human service still matters in stores; his failed effort to change J.C. Penney’s offer shows the risk of moving faster than customers’ values allow.
Employee Ownership Should Advance Through Tax Simplification, Not New Carve-Outs
US Senator Ron Johnson used a keynote at the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum to argue that employee ownership belongs inside a broader effort to reduce capital concentration and put more productive assets in the hands of ordinary Americans. Johnson supported ESOPs when they reward workers who helped build a business, but warned against treating them as another narrow tax carve-out. His larger case was for a simpler tax code that taxes business income at the ownership level, preserves “wherewithal to pay,” and makes employee succession a more viable alternative to consolidation or private-equity sales.