House of Fidelity - by Justin Baer (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

When Edward C. Johnson II founded Fidelity in 1946, investing was a pursuit reserved for the elite. Today, nearly $13 trillion flows through Fidelity's customer accounts and investment funds--touching the lives of one in every six Americans. With little fanfare, Fidelity helped invent modern retail investing: democratizing access to mutual funds, introducing the 401(k), and upending the need for traditional brokers.

But behind the scenes of this financial juggernaut is a family saga unlike any other. In House of Fidelity, veteran journalist Justin Baer tells the definitive story of the Johnsons--a New England dynasty that fiercely guarded control of their company while reshaping Wall Street. From the founder's bold leap into Boston's insular investing circles, to the meteoric rise of Peter Lynch, to behind-closed-doors battles over succession and legacy, Baer reveals a company and a family locked in a delicate balance of innovation, influence, and internal power struggles.

At once a riveting business narrative and an intimate portrait of ambition, secrecy, and control, House of Fidelity is a sweeping history of American investing--and the dynasty that came to define it.

About the Author

Justin Baer is an award-winning journalist and senior writer for The Wall Street Journal. In a career that includes stints at the Financial Times and Bloomberg News, he has covered almost every significant financial event over the past two decades, including the dot-com bubble, the 2008 financial crisis and the economic fallout from the pandemic. Along the way, Baer has chronicled the ups and downs of such major institutions as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, BlackRock and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.