Don Johnson was one of the original organizers and founders of American Business Bank, which is a commercial bank specializing in serving the middle market business community.

After Mellon Bank purchased 1st Business Bank in 1997, Don and four other senior banking officers left 1st Business Bank to form American Business Bank. He realized that with the banking mergers occurring, there were few locally based business banks to serve the burgeoning small and mid-sized company market. Don and his partners personally raised the more than $14.2 million used to capitalize American Business Bank. This was the second largest management driven capitalization in California history at that time.

Don obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina. After college, he was a full lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. He earned his MBA from Pepperdine University.