Long before she became CEO of the $13 trillion Fidelity Investments, Abigail Johnson was removed from her job running the firm’s mutual fund business, and within months was involved in an attempt to remove her own father, Ned Johnson, from power, according to a new book on the company.
A Sudden Demotion
In an interview with SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci on his podcast “Open Book,” Wall Street Journal editor Justin Baer and author of “House of Fidelity,” said Johnson was removed from her role running Fidelity’s flagship mutual fund business, a demotion that led her to threaten to quit the firm altogether.
Baer said the episode had previously surfaced in limited form, with a colleague once describing it as “essentially what looks like a coup attempt” by Johnson against her father, but the fuller account, including what led up to it, had never been reported.
He said untangling her motivations became one of the central challenges of writing the book.
A Coup Thwarted at the Last Minute
According to Baer, Johnson’s demotion was followed months later by a boardroom coup attempt against her father, Ned Johnson, who had run Fidelity for decades.
The attempt was thwarted at the last minute, Baer said, though piecing together exactly how it unfolded required interviews with numerous people close to the family.
Ned Johnson Considered Selling Fidelity
While reporting the book, Baer said he learned that Ned Johnson, for the first time in his life, was open to the idea of selling the company outright.
He added that the discovery reshaped his understanding of what was really driving the conflict between father and daughter.
Fidelity’s Next Succession Test
Johnson went on to become Fidelity’s CEO in 2014, but Baer said it remains too early to determine whether the next generation of Johnsons will eventually take over, adding that taking the company public would represent a major departure from the family’s long-standing preference for private ownership, a structure he said has let Fidelity pursue long-term bets without pressure from outside shareholders.
Fidelity was founded by Edward C. Johnson II in 1946 and helped reshape retail investing through the rise of mutual funds and the introduction of 401(k) plans.
The firm now oversees nearly $13 trillion across its customer accounts and investment funds, with roughly one in six Americans holding an account there.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors
Photo: Piotr Swat via Shutterstock
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