A nice profile of Bogle in the NYTimes plus a reference to it and comment about his wealth relative to other fundco founders:
John Bogle, Vanguard’s Founder, Is Too Worried to Rest - NYTimes.com “It’s urgent that people wake up,” he says. Why? This is the worst time for investors that he has ever seen — and after more than 60 years in the business, that’s saying a lot.
Start with the economy, the ultimate source of long-term stock market returns. “The economy has clouds hovering over it,” Mr. Bogle says. “And the financial system has been damaged. The risk of a black-swan event — of something unlikely but apocalyptic — is small, but it’s real.”
Even so, he says, long-term investors must hold stocks, because risky as the market may be, it is still likely to produce better returns than the alternatives. “Wise investors won’t try to outsmart the market,” he says. “They’ll buy index funds for the long term, and they’ll diversify. But diversify into what? They need alternatives, bonds, for the most part. What’s so frightening right now is that the alternatives to equities are so poor.”
In the financial crises of the last several years, he says, investors have flocked to seemingly safe government bonds, driving up prices and driving down yields. The Federal Reserve and other central banks have been pushing down interest rates, too. But low yields today predict low returns later, he says, and “the outlook for bonds over the next decade is really terrible.”
Dark as this outlook may be, he says, people need to “stay the course” if they are to have hope of buying homes or putting children through college or retiring in comfort.
Jack Bogle Isn't As Filthy Stinking Rich As Most Mutual Fund GiantsPlayers in the mutual fund business can earn tons of money and accumulate immense amounts of wealth. In a profile two weeks ago, the New York Times told us that Mohamed El-Erian of bond fund PIMCO "was paid about $100 million last year." Billionaire Bill Gross made twice that amount.
Members of the Johnson family, who are behind mutual fund giant Fidelity, regularly show up near the top of Forbes' list of billionaires.
But Jack Bogle, who is perhaps the most recognized name in the mutual fund industry, isn't nearly as wealthy as his peers.
So where did Bogle's $billions go? Straight into the pockets of those of us who invested in his low-cost mutual funds and ETFs.
Sedulously eschew obfuscatory hyperverbosity and prolixity.
