Abigail Pierrepont Johnson (born December 19, 1961) is an American billionaire businesswoman, and the granddaughter of late Edward C. Johnson II, the founder of Fidelity Investments. Since 2014, Johnson has been president and chief executive officer (CEO) of American investment firm Fidelity Investments (FMR), and chair of its former sister company Fidelity International (FIL). Fidelity was founded by her grandfather Edward C. Johnson II. Her father, Edward C. “Ned” Johnson III, remained chair emeritus of FMR until his death in March 2022. As of March 2013, the Johnson family owned a 49% stake in the privately-held company, with Johnson herself holding an estimated 24.5%. She is a board member of Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
In November 2016, Johnson was named chair and remained CEO and president, giving her full control of Fidelity with 45,000 employees worldwide. Johnson’s wealth is approximately $22.6 billion, making her one of the world’s wealthiest women. She was named on Forbes‘ “The Richest Person In America’s 50 Largest Cities” list in 2016 and ranked sixth in 2021 on their “Powerful Women” list. She was the richest person in Massachusetts in 2020.
The majority of Johnson’s fortune is derived from her 32.74% stake in FMR, the parent company of Fidelity Investments. Her ownership is derived from an August 2005 SEC filing and a distribution of her father Edward Johnson III’s stake. She was named CEO in October 2014.
FMR had revenue of $25.2 billion and $8 billion in earnings before interest and taxes for the twelve months ended Dec. 31, 2022, according to a presentation on its 2022 results, and its discretionary managed assets stood at $4.47 trillion as of June 30, 2023, according to the company’s website. Its valuation is based on the average enterprise value-to-Ebit and market capitalization-to-assets under management multiples of publicly traded peers.
The Johnsons hold family investments in Impresa Management, according to a March 2023 Form ADV filing. It has about $13.4 billion in assets owned by insiders. This analysis credits three family members as equal owners of 80% of insider assets.
The Johnson family also owns 40% of fund company Fidelity International. Abigail Johnson is credited with 10.9% of Fidelity International based on past regulatory disclosures. It had $729 billion in fund assets as of March 31, 2023, according to its website. This business is valued using the average assets under management-to-market capitalization multiple of publicly traded peers.
The Johnson family is credited with 46% of telecommunications company Colt Group S.A. The firm had revenues of €1.6 billion in 2022 according to filings. It’s valued based on the average multiples of publicly traded peers. Abigail is credited with a 28% share of the firm.
Other assets include oil company Discovery Natural Resources and venture capital firm Eight Roads.
A spokesman for Fidelity, Susan Coburn, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the calculations.
Biography
Early life
She was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 19, 1961. Johnson and her younger siblings did not feel pressured to join the family business. As a child Johnson was attracted to her father’s work. Johnson attended Cambridge, Massachusetts private school Buckingham Browne & Nichols School and then graduated from Hobart and William Smith college with a bachelor’s degree in art history in 1984. After working as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she met her husband, Johnson completed an MBA at Harvard Business School.
In 1993, she was named head of a diversified stock fund, outperforming the overall market by almost 12 percentage points that year. Through 1997, she managed two other funds, also beating the S&P 500, until she was promoted to help oversee Fidelity specialized growth funds under Robert Pozen. When Pozen left in 2001, she took over his responsibilities, part of a series of leadership positions at the company.
A resident of the Boston suburb of Milton, Massachusetts, Johnson is estimated to be the largest single shareholder of FMR, with 33% of the company.
Her sister, Elizabeth, and brother, Edward, are also shareholders of FMR, FIL and Impresa Management.
Fidelity Investments
Upon graduating from Harvard Business School in 1988, Johnson joined Fidelity Investments, which her grandfather Edward Johnson II founded in 1946 and of which her father Edward Johnson III was then the CEO. She began as an analyst and portfolio manager. In 2001, she was promoted to president of Fidelity Asset Management. During her time in that position, Johnson unsuccessfully attempted to orchestrate a vote to remove her father as CEO over disagreements about his business decisions. In 2005, she became Head of Retail, Workplace, and Institutional Business. She was named president in 2012. In 2014, she became CEO, and in 2016 she became chairman as well. In 2018, Johnson introduced cryptocurrency investment at Fidelity, making it possible for institutional investors to trade bitcoin and ethereum.
Politics
In 2015, Johnson donated $2,700, the maximum amount legally allowed for presidential primary campaigns, to Republican candidate Jeb Bush. In 2016, she donated about $330,000 to Hillary Clinton‘s campaign and the Democratic National Committee
Milestones
- 1961 Abigail Pierrepont Johnson is born.
- 1977 Grandfather Edward C. Johnson II retires from Fidelity.
- 1984 Graduates from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
- 1988 Gets MBA from Harvard Business School.
- 1988 Marries Christopher John McKown.
- 2007 Becomes one of three vice chairs of FMR, Fidelity’s parent company.
- 2012 Promoted to president of Fidelity Investments.
- 2014 Appointed as Fidelity CEO by father Edward Johnson.
