The Biography of Abigail Johnson : Career, Net Worth

Abigail Johnson has emerged as a force to reckon with in the financial world since 2016. She has proven that when it comes to money management, women are equal to the task. She is currently the face of Fidelity Investments, a company worth $2.3 trillion in assets which she inherited from her father. She is the third-generation Johnson to head the Fidelity Investments, and in the list of the richest businessmen and women around the world. This rare and unique woman is among those redefining gender roles in the world.

When Abigail replaced her father in 2014, there were various speculations in the media outlets on whether she would be able to continue in her father's successful footsteps or choose a different path. However, Abigail's serious and quiet demeanor exudes a sense of power and control enough to convince everyone that she is capable. She shows that she won't be the same as her father but her own woman. Abigail Johnson became the CEO that she wants to be. Here is a brief peep into her life and career. 

Early Life And Education

Abigail Pierrepont Johnson was born on 19th December 1961 in Boston. She is the daughter of Edward C. "Ned" Johnson III  and granddaughter of Edward C. Johnson II. She attended Cambridge, MA Private school Buckingham Browne, and Nichols before moving to Hobat and William Smith where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in art history in 1984. In 1985, she started working in Booz Allen Hamilton and stayed for only a year before going for an MBA at Harvard Business School.

Career History

Immediately, she finished her MBA course at Harvard Business School, Johnson joined her family's business (Fidelity Investment) as an Analyst and Portfolio Manager. At this time, her major role in the company entails answering phone calls at the department of customer relationships. Fidelity Investment is under the parent company Fidelity Management and Research firm (FRM) founded by Edward Johnson II (Abigail's grandfather) in 1946.  The firm manages and controls mutual fund including a team of professional portfolio strategists in charge of the money of different stock investors. 

Abigail's father, Edward Johnson III took over from his father in 1977. During the stock market boom in the 1980s and 90s, Fidelity Investment emerges as one of the best financial management companies in the United States. 

After a few years of awesome and impeccable record in her role, Abigail was promoted to the role of a Portfolio manager. In her new role, she showed herself as a very hardworking and reliable fund supervisor. By 1994, she became an Associate Director of Fidelity Investment. 

In 1995, Abigail's grandfather, Edward C Johnson II transferred most of his voting rights in Fidelity Investment to the parent company FRM. This act led to the speculation that he did this because of his confidence in his granddaughter's abilities and would want her to oversee the company someday.

Abigail began acting as the Senior Vice President of Fidelity investment in 1998. By this time she was already married to  Christopher J. McKown, the Co-Founder of Iora Health LLC, a healthcare information company.

In May 2001, Abigail was announced as the successor of her father in his role as the President of Fidelity mutual fund division. She was then promoted to the role of President of Fidelity Assets Management. This made her among the top most powerful individual in the company. She is next after her father and the CEO of the company, Robert L. Reynolds. 

However, when Abigail took up this role, the company was experiencing some turbulence caused by the bear market. The value of the stock was reduced drastically and there was no hope of improvement. When Abigail came on board, experts noticed a contrast between her method of management and her fathers. While her grandfather uses the Japanese principle of kaizen which focuses on small incremental growth, her father used the American style of expansion through mergers and acquisitions. 

But Abigail adopts a mix of both methods, and sometimes alternate between the two methods. In an interview with BusinessWeek, she was quoted as saying “But sometimes, they (incremental growth strategies) don’t work, and you’ve got to say: Let’s grind this baby to a halt.”

Part of Abigail's strategy that brought tremendous growth to the company is allowing portfolio managers to buy and sell aggressively in the open market. This singular act outsmarts her competitors' strategies.

In 2005, she received another promotion as Head of Retail, Workplace, and Institutional Business and also became the President of Fidelity's Employer Services Company, an organization that offers retirement benefits and HR services to different companies. 

In November 2016, Abigail Johnson was announced as the Chairman and CEO and also President of Fidelity Investments. This gave her full control of over 45,000 people working in the organization. 

One of the major areas the company concentrates on is in connecting with millennials through digital tools, and also commending customers with when they make savvy financial goals or decisions.

The company also have a charitable arm that provides fund for organizations in health, education, art and culture and so on.

Net Worth

In combination with her family's inheritance and her own personal achievement, Abigail has a net worth of $14.6B as of May 27, 2020.

Other Interest

Politics

Abigail Johnson donated a sum of $2,700 to the Republican Presidential candidate, Jeb Bush in 2016. This amount was the maximum sum legally allowed for the presidential primary campaign. 

Honors and Awards.

Abigail Johnson is a member of the Committee on Capital Market Regulations. She is also part of the board of directors of the Securities Industry and Financial Market Association (SIFMA). She also emerges as the first and only woman to ever serve on the Board of Financial Services Forum.