Brett M. Johnson

CEO of Benevolent Capital, Chairman of Rhode Island FC and Centreville Bank Stadium, Director of Ipswich Town FC

Brett M. Johnson is a seasoned investor, executive, and board member whose career spans family office management, private equity, venture capital, professional sports ownership, real estate development, and global consumer brands. As founder of Benevolent Capital and co-founder of Three Lions Capital Management, Mr. Johnson has built a diversified portfolio of sports franchises, technology companies, real estate assets, and innovative consumer ventures. He brings broad operational experience from leading a global company with sales in 145 countries and deep expertise in identifying, acquiring, and scaling businesses across multiple sectors.

FAMILY OFFICE & INVESTMENTS

In 2005, Mr. Johnson founded Benevolent Capital (www.benevolentcapital.com), a family office with investments in professional sports teams, real estate, private equity, and venture capital. The current portfolio includes the English Premier League club Ipswich Town FC, the USL clubs Phoenix Rising FC and Rhode Island FC, Centreville Bank Stadium, and investments in FlyHouse, TerraCycle, Athletic Brewing, Oura Ring, and Seekr Technologies. Mr. Johnson is a Founder and Partner of Fortuitous Partners, a diversified opportunity fund platform investing in professional sports-anchored, multi-asset real estate developments in opportunity zones — including the iconic Centreville Bank Stadium development in Rhode Island.

PRIVATE EQUITY & SPORTS OWNERSHIP

Mr. Johnson is Co-Founder of Three Lions Capital Management LLC, a private equity firm specializing in sports, entertainment, and life sciences investments. The firm’s portfolio spans professional football clubs, youth sports, live entertainment, and cutting-edge medical diagnostics technology. Ipswich Town Football Club — Mr. Johnson is a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors of Ipswich Town Football Club (founded 1878), one of England’s most storied clubs, with an English League title, FA Cup, and UEFA Cup to its name. Following the acquisition of the club in April 2021, Ipswich Town achieved back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League — only the fourth club in the history of English football to do so — a remarkable turnaround widely recognized across the football world. The Club currently competes at the Championship level.

Phoenix Rising Football Club — Mr. Johnson is Co-Founder and Shareholder of Phoenix Rising FC, Arizona’s highest-level professional soccer organization. The club holds the record for the longest win streak in U.S. professional soccer history (20 consecutive wins) and has captured Western Conference Titles in 2018, 2020, and 2023, the USL Championship regular season title in 2019, and the USL Cup championship. Rhode Island FC — Mr. Johnson is the Founder and Principal Owner of Rhode Island FC, the USL professional soccer club based in Rhode Island, anchoring the broader Centreville Bank Stadium and mixed-use real estate development.

Three Lions Pioneer — Three Lions Pioneer holds a significant investment in Pioneer Sports & Entertainment, LLC, the market-leading platform in the U.S. youth soccer landscape, operating under the Surf Sports and Rush Soccer brands. Pioneer is the only entity with premium reach across all key verticals of the industry — including clubs, events, leagues, facilities, software, travel, and camps — and is well positioned to expand into broader youth sports and geographies.

Three Lions Hondo — Three Lions Hondo is an investor in The Hondo Rodeo Fest, an innovative live entertainment concept merging premier rodeo competition with major music festivals. Following a breakthrough 2025 Phoenix event, Hondo is scaling rapidly with two events planned for 2026 — including a debut at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans — and six events targeted for 2027. The venture has attracted national media attention and has been recognized as a category-defining concept with the potential to reshape the American live entertainment landscape.

Three Lions Life Sciences — Three Lions Capital Management LLC has expanded into the life sciences sector through the formation of Three Lions Life Sciences. Its inaugural investment is Pictura Bio, an Oxford University spin-out developing AI-powered diagnostic technology capable of detecting viral versus bacterial infections in 60 seconds. Pictura Bio targets a significant and largely unmet need in emergency and urgent care medicine.

HOSPITALITY

Mr. Johnson is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Tiger Hospitality FH Holdings LLC, a multi-asset hospitality company focused on food hall ownership and scalable restaurant concepts across Southern California. The company operates five proprietary growth brands and has three food halls totaling over 41,000 square feet, all fully licensed and opening in 2026: Miramar Food Hall in San Clemente (12,400 SF), Station 8 Public Market at UCSD in La Jolla (20,903 SF), and Global Fork in Little Italy, San Diego (4,700 SF).

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Prior to founding Benevolent Capital, Mr. Johnson served as President of Targus (www.targus.com), the leading global provider of mobile computing solutions with sales of $545 million. With offices in 36 geographies and sales in 145 countries, Targus designs and markets a broad range of notebook carrying cases and accessories for mobile computing consumers. Prior to his promotion to President, Mr. Johnson served as Managing Director of Targus EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia-Pacific from 1997 to 2001, residing in London, UK. He was instrumental in the company’s sale to a private equity firm in 2005, generating considerable returns to shareholders, and continued as an Executive Director on the Targus board until 2009.

BOARD & CIVIC LEADERSHIP

From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Johnson served on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Compensation Committee at Blyth Inc. (NYSE: BTH), a $1 billion direct-to-consumer sales company and leading designer and marketer of home accessories and health & wellness products. Blyth was subsequently acquired by the private equity firm Carlyle in November 2015.

Mr. Johnson currently serves as a Director of TerraCycle (www.terracycle.com), the innovative global recycling company and FlyHouse (www.GoFlyHouse.com). He is a former member of the Board of Trustees at Choate Rosemary Hall and served as Senior Fellow in Entrepreneurship and a member of the Board of Visitors for the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University.

EDUCATION & RECOGNITION

Mr. Johnson earned a Bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a Master of Business Administration from the Presidential/Key Executive program at Pepperdine University. In 2014, he graduated from the YPO Harvard Business School President’s Leadership Program. In 2021, Mr. Johnson was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine — the highest honor bestowed by the school.

In 2025, Mr. Johnson was honored by the Pawtucket Foundation for the City of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, as their Person of the Year — recognizing his transformative investment and civic contributions to the region.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Mr. Johnson is an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and Tiger21, peer networks for chief executives and high-net-worth investors