The Secretive Family Behind a $13 Trillion Financial Empire
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
What is the central triumph to me is the pivot. You're sitting there all mutual funds all the time. That's your copper wire. The world's going wireless. You can sit in the copper wire and end up losing your business. Say the word mutual fund.
I feel it's dying and I think it's getting replaced.
I think a relic. You say mutual fund, I think of Museum of Natural History. That's where it's going.
It seems that way. It seems though even if they can level the playing field between mutual funds and ETFs with respect to tax b benefits. But still I I think it's people like ETFs a lot. I think they prefer that mutual funds.
You're a much more generous journalist than most. You're supposed to be more cynical and say this thing is dead. Welcome to Open Book. I am your host, Anthony Scaramucci. Uh joining us today is Justin Baer. He is an award-winning journalist. He's also deputy markets editor for the Wall Street Journal. Uh and he's got a great new book out. It's called House of Fidelity. The rise of the Johnson dynasty and the company that changed American investing. And we you and I had actually talked about Diana Enriquez's book, which I guess is almost three decades old now, so A lot has changed the fidelity. Uh but congratulations on this. Uh You know, it's an amazing story, you know, and it's an amazing story about one big thing, Justin, is do one thing, do one thing with great excellence and stay doing one thing, and you too can have thirteen trillion dollars.
All right. I mean, that's basically the story. So it's great to have you on. Tell us a little bit about your background first. So much. And uh how long you've been at the journal, what drew you into reporting.
Yes. Uh yeah, that's that's a that's a different story. Um yeah, I've been at the journal I guess coming up uh fifteen years at this point. Uh I had worked at a few other outlets before that. Uh Financial Times here in New York and uh Bloomberg News also in New York and then I got my start at a a newspaper, daily newspaper in Indiana.
Who is the guest and what is the focus of the episode?
In that the called the Journal Gazette. And um, you know, I had kind of a kind of a late bloomer in terms of my interest in journalism. I was not one of those people that, you know, wrote a newspaper, you know. a newspaper on their neighborhood or they're like fifth grade class, like like a lot of people, um, kind of came to it late, uh, discovered it very late when I was in college and um, you know, knew I was interested in in in finding a a a role where I could do a lot of writing. Um, didn't think I was cut out for interested in in getting the news business and uh ended up um you know sort of luck get you know working at a at a an internship at a newspaper. Just really love the the idea of of, you know
showing up and and going to interview people. uh and then going back to the paper and writing about it and then seeing your name um and and seeing the article the next day. Um And um but it took me a few more years after that to to get going and I worked in a different uh related field, uh went back to school and then really began um, you know, my life as a reporter as I was getting into my mid twenties.
Just a just an existential question before I get into the book. So Journalists. Let's talk about journalists for a second. You go into journalism because you're Trying to find the truth. You're going into journalism because you're fascinated by human stories or human stories connected to business. Um, and I find journalists at appropriately so, by the way, I'm just wondering if this is you, um, cynical. They look at things a little bit of a jaundice eye, they're trying to figure out if they're getting bullshitted by somebody or if what they're actually seeing is what you get. So is that you?
I mean, I mean to a certain extent, yeah. I mean, I think all the above, I think wanting, um, enjoying, um learning new things and um being able to gather that information and share it. maybe for the first time with the broader world. That's very exciting. Uh that's a big part of the of the allure. Um, you know, the the the cynicism I also think there is also um
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:06
2
Who is the guest and what is the focus of the episode?
2:06–6:25
3
How did Justin Baer’s journalism career lead him to investigate Fidelity?
6:25–15:45
4
What is the origin story of the Johnson family’s rise at Fidelity?
15:45–20:35
5
How did Abigail Johnson reshape Fidelity for the modern era?
20:35–28:28
6
Why are mutual funds considered a relic and how are ETFs changing the game?
28:28–32:12
7
What internal challenges and succession issues did the Johnson dynasty face?
32:12–33:09
8
What are the key takeaways and final thoughts from the conversation?
33:09–33:28
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Open Book with Anthony Scaramucci
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