Speaking to a predominately female audience, the down-to-earth D.C. mogul elicited gasps and howls of disbelief when she mentioned that many Washington Mystics basketball players are paid only $37,000. And she earned a round of applause when she declared that women are “the most important human beings on Earth.”

She also dished to interviewer Carol Joynt on a fellow D.C. tycoon, Redskins owner Dan Snyder, who she said is “very shy. I told him, ‘Don’t be shy.’ ” Johnson, Snyder and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis often go to dinner with one another.