On Jack Bogle
https://about.vanguard.com/who-we-are/a-remarkable-history/founder-Jack-Bogle-tribute/by Tim Buckley
As you may already know, this is a sad day for Vanguard.
We lost a good friend. And mutual fund investors everywhere have lost one of their most passionate advocates.
Jack Bogle was the founder of our company, and its leader for more than two decades.
By creating a client-owned company—or as he himself liked to say, “the only mutual mutual fund company,” Jack Bogle put billions of dollars back into the pockets of investors.
And he influenced the entire mutual fund industry in a positive manner. Without Vanguard, I'm certain that costs would be higher for investors across the mutual fund industry.
In many ways, Jack was a man of contrasts:
- He was a student of history … but he was also a forward-thinking innovator.
- He could readily quote lines from Shakespeare or Sophocles … but he could just as capably tell you what just about any Vanguard fund returned yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that.
- He valued conventional principles like hard work and thrift … but he took tremendous personal and professional risks to follow his vision.
- He revolutionized the complex mutual fund industry … but he did so with fundamentally simple concepts like low costs and client-focus.
You know, Jack was fond of saying that he left his old job at Wellington Management Company—where he had worked for almost 2½ decades—in the same way that he began his new job at Vanguard: “Fired with enthusiasm!”
He carried that enthusiasm throughout his Vanguard career, and he inspired millions as a crusader for the everyday investor.
He liked to remind us that our clients are “honest-to-God, down-to-earth, human beings, each with their own hopes, fears, and financial goals.”
In a daily business that is so often characterized by numbers and forms and paperwork, that perspective is refreshing—and so important. It’s why we’re here.
We send our condolences to Jack’s wife, Eve, to their children and grandchildren, and to all those who were close to Jack over the course of his remarkable life.
