Edward C. Johnson II
Edward C. Johnson II | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edward Crosby Johnson II January 19, 1898 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | April 2, 1984 (aged 86) Cataumet, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse |
Elsie Livingston (m. 1924) |
| Children | 2; including Edward III |
| Relatives | Abigail Johnson (granddaughter) |
Edward Crosby Johnson II (January 19, 1898 – April 2, 1984) was an American businessman and lawyer who founded Fidelity Investments.
Biography
[edit]Edward Crosby Johnson II was born in Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1898, to Samuel Johnson, a partner in the dry-goods firm C.F. Hovey and Co. and Josephine Johnson (née Forbush).[1] Johnson came from a family of New England Puritan ancestry.[2] He graduated from Milton Academy in 1916,[3] and enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve as a second class radioman during World War I from August 1917 to July 1918.[4] He graduated from Harvard College in 1920 and Harvard Law School in 1924.[3][5][4]
After receiving a law degree, Johnson became an associate at Boston law firm Ropes, Gray, Boyden & Perkins[6] and also became involved in stock market research.[7] Diana B. Henriques wrote in 1995: "...those who knew Ed Johnson sensed...an openness to the new and the exotic. Most of all, there was a very un-Bostonian passion for the quick, rude, sharp-witted world of Wall Street."[6]
He served as the president the Fidelity Fund, incorporated on May 1, 1930, as well as the vice president and treasurer of the fund's board of directors.[8][9] From 1946, he served as the founding chairman of Fidelity Management and Research.[7] By 1958, Johnson managed over $400 million combined with $357 million in the Fidelity Fund and $59 million in his new Puritan Fund.[10] Beginning in 1969, Johnson chaired the board of Fidelity Management and Research.[11]
He died in Cataumet, Massachusetts, of Alzheimer's disease in 1984, and his funeral was held at Milton's Universalist First Parish Church.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ Edward Johnson 2d, Retired Board Chairman at Fidelity. Boston Globe, Apr. 4, 1984
- ^ Alex Taylor III, "Why Fidelity Is The Master of Mutual Funds" (1986) archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/09/01/67986/index.htm
- ^ a b "Edward C. Johnson II". Harvard Business School. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
- ^ a b Henriques 1995, pp. 44–46
- ^ "Who's Afraid of Abby Johnson?". Boston Magazine. 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- ^ a b Henriques 1995, p. 47
- ^ a b c "Edward Johnson 2d, Was 86; Began Investment Company". The New York Times. October 5, 1984. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
- ^ http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/fidelity-investments-inc-history/
- ^ Porter, John Sherman, ed. (1944). Moody's Manual of Investments: American and Foreign. New York: Moody's Investor Service. p. 754.
- ^ Henriques 1995, p. 120
- ^ Henriques 1995, p. 202
- Works cited
- Henriques, Diana B. (1995). Fidelity's World: The Secret Life and Public Power of the Mutual Fund Giant. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-81299-1.