What do you think?
Rate this book
House of Fidelity: The Rise of the Johnson Dynasty and the Company That Changed American Investing
Not yet published
Expected 5 May 26384 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication May 5, 2026
2310 people want to read
About the author
Justin Baer
5 books10 followersJustin Baer is an award-winning journalist and an editor for The Wall Street Journal. In a career that includes stints at the Financial Times and Bloomberg News, he has covered almost every significant financial event over the past two decades, including the dot-com bubble, the 2008 financial crisis and the economic fallout from the pandemic. Along the way, Baer has chronicled the ups and downs of such major institutions as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
He lives in New Jersey with his wife and three children.
He lives in New Jersey with his wife and three children.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This review is based upon a March 2026 read of the book's pre-release copy requested from Netgalley.
This book is a comprehensive history of the Fidelity empire. Although titled, "House of Fidelity', it is about much more than the family history of the Johnsons. The protagonist, Abigail (Abby) Johnson is surprisingly offered fewer words throughout than the other actors, including her father. The book is also regretfully light on Abby's mother whose outsized role and influence from the background appears to be present but unaccounted for in the book.
The story truly begins with Abby's grandfather, Ted, and meanders through the firm's early years under Ted's firm control. His son, Ned, an inventor, tinkerer, student and innovator rises to his own before being allowed to ascend to the throne due to Ted's illness. There is a bit of drama reminiscent of the TV series, Succession, where the succession remains elusive through anticipation.
The father's hereditary Alzheimer's diagnosis so shakes him that he forges a friendship with his father's doctor and commits Fidelity's resources to study and fund the development of potential therapies. This and other innovation-focused ventures establish Fidelity in the venture community amongst its brokerage and mutual fund businesses. The varied ventures also allow the company to hire remarkable talent from the ivies and non-ivies alike, attracting sharp minds that not only make the formidable company but also help seed many others in the northeastern US with talent diaspora.
I read the book with deep interest, cover to cover, in a short three days. Yet am forced to leave only four stars while acknowledging how hard researching this private, family-owned company must have been, despite the author's front-row seat at the WSJ with incredible research and history at his disposal.
The book struggles to find its identity.
It naturally begins frustratingly as a chronology of events that led to Fidelity's origins. The first few chapters almost lost me due to the 'this happened then this happened..." but I am glad I persisted. Ted's transition to Ned allows the book to pick up a pace and establish rhythm. Numerous characters enter and exit, their motivations and actions as varied as their background and skills. There is drama and politics, posturing and backstabbing, some seemingly recognized but certainly accepted by the patriarchs.
Ned's iron grip on the company and deep understanding of what makes his company (and family?) tick is remarkable. In one section he orders the technology overhaul when observing the haphazard infrastructure in the bowels of the company and in another broadly invests in Alzheimer's research. He seems distant a father to his kids yet encourages (surprisingly and effectively) them to follow their own paths, even as the paths converge on the family business. He is the background protagonist, switching roles to an antagonist just so.
I shouldn't be surprised at the mistreatment of the firm's female employees and the misogyny that permeates the story, right to the top. Although the book addresses some of the house cleaning that occurred once Abby took reins, there is likely more to cleanup in culture and history.
Reviewed in macro, the book is neither a chronology, nor a chapter-ed telling of innovations or inventions. It frustratingly switches between stories of humans and their doings to strategies that made Fidelity. Nowhere does this misplaced identity shine brighter than the chapter on Abby's strategic focus on bitcoin and the blockchain. It begins with a gusto and excited me with a prospect of speaking to the innovations fostered and nurtured. Yet, just as the story finds its legs, it switches to another set of people and their politics.
Fidelity did a lot of things right and hired a lot of incredibly smart people to make them happen. Its ability to hold a family together while growing a business is exemplary. The book references other family-owned businesses that started, thrived and failed for many of the same experiences as the Johnson family. I do wish more could've been written about Abby's sister, Beth and mother, Lillie and their contributions. I wonder if Abby would be Chairman and CEO today if Lillie hadn't intervened at critical junctures for the father and daughter. I also wonder about Abby's actions that aren't fully developed in the book and likely remain sealed for a future biography (or better yet, an autobiography).
I highly recommend the book despite my criticism regarding lack of identity. The book found its hook in the first 60-80 pages and kept me reading, despite the occasional angst and frustration.
This book is a comprehensive history of the Fidelity empire. Although titled, "House of Fidelity', it is about much more than the family history of the Johnsons. The protagonist, Abigail (Abby) Johnson is surprisingly offered fewer words throughout than the other actors, including her father. The book is also regretfully light on Abby's mother whose outsized role and influence from the background appears to be present but unaccounted for in the book.
The story truly begins with Abby's grandfather, Ted, and meanders through the firm's early years under Ted's firm control. His son, Ned, an inventor, tinkerer, student and innovator rises to his own before being allowed to ascend to the throne due to Ted's illness. There is a bit of drama reminiscent of the TV series, Succession, where the succession remains elusive through anticipation.
The father's hereditary Alzheimer's diagnosis so shakes him that he forges a friendship with his father's doctor and commits Fidelity's resources to study and fund the development of potential therapies. This and other innovation-focused ventures establish Fidelity in the venture community amongst its brokerage and mutual fund businesses. The varied ventures also allow the company to hire remarkable talent from the ivies and non-ivies alike, attracting sharp minds that not only make the formidable company but also help seed many others in the northeastern US with talent diaspora.
I read the book with deep interest, cover to cover, in a short three days. Yet am forced to leave only four stars while acknowledging how hard researching this private, family-owned company must have been, despite the author's front-row seat at the WSJ with incredible research and history at his disposal.
The book struggles to find its identity.
It naturally begins frustratingly as a chronology of events that led to Fidelity's origins. The first few chapters almost lost me due to the 'this happened then this happened..." but I am glad I persisted. Ted's transition to Ned allows the book to pick up a pace and establish rhythm. Numerous characters enter and exit, their motivations and actions as varied as their background and skills. There is drama and politics, posturing and backstabbing, some seemingly recognized but certainly accepted by the patriarchs.
Ned's iron grip on the company and deep understanding of what makes his company (and family?) tick is remarkable. In one section he orders the technology overhaul when observing the haphazard infrastructure in the bowels of the company and in another broadly invests in Alzheimer's research. He seems distant a father to his kids yet encourages (surprisingly and effectively) them to follow their own paths, even as the paths converge on the family business. He is the background protagonist, switching roles to an antagonist just so.
I shouldn't be surprised at the mistreatment of the firm's female employees and the misogyny that permeates the story, right to the top. Although the book addresses some of the house cleaning that occurred once Abby took reins, there is likely more to cleanup in culture and history.
Reviewed in macro, the book is neither a chronology, nor a chapter-ed telling of innovations or inventions. It frustratingly switches between stories of humans and their doings to strategies that made Fidelity. Nowhere does this misplaced identity shine brighter than the chapter on Abby's strategic focus on bitcoin and the blockchain. It begins with a gusto and excited me with a prospect of speaking to the innovations fostered and nurtured. Yet, just as the story finds its legs, it switches to another set of people and their politics.
Fidelity did a lot of things right and hired a lot of incredibly smart people to make them happen. Its ability to hold a family together while growing a business is exemplary. The book references other family-owned businesses that started, thrived and failed for many of the same experiences as the Johnson family. I do wish more could've been written about Abby's sister, Beth and mother, Lillie and their contributions. I wonder if Abby would be Chairman and CEO today if Lillie hadn't intervened at critical junctures for the father and daughter. I also wonder about Abby's actions that aren't fully developed in the book and likely remain sealed for a future biography (or better yet, an autobiography).
I highly recommend the book despite my criticism regarding lack of identity. The book found its hook in the first 60-80 pages and kept me reading, despite the occasional angst and frustration.
March 27, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishers for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
Overall I would recommend this book. I have long been interested in asset management space and found this book fairly interesting to read, finishing it in less than a week. For the given topic where information may be harder to uncover or get people to admit to, this was actually well researched. This is an example of where a mile wide and a foot deep is actually not as bad as it sounds.
The author did a great job with providing family history, weaving it into the narrative about what happened at Fidelity. It provided some good side bars in detailing some of the non-family key players over the years as well as overall industry topics. If you’re interested in the space you will find this much more interesting than someone who would just have passing curiosity. And I think therein is a question when it comes to who this book is for, given its depth and length. It’s definitely a history book and tries to examine events that happened within the company, and does not provide (nor portend to) any investing insight (unless you count the different businesses Ned dabbled into).
There were some shortcomings in this book which factored into my rating. This was a big topic with a lot of history, but there were times where it felt disjointed in its narrative. By this I mean there was a lot of discussion about the family, there was lot of discussion about what happened and was happening in the business, there were a number of items happening in the asset management world as well. The problem for me was in the way that the author needed them together came across more jumbled and disorganized at times.
The book is not always straight chronological because inherently things that happen or don’t influence later decisions, and the author tried to include that for context. However there was often some repeating of the same fact over and over, or tange
Overall I would recommend this book. I have long been interested in asset management space and found this book fairly interesting to read, finishing it in less than a week. For the given topic where information may be harder to uncover or get people to admit to, this was actually well researched. This is an example of where a mile wide and a foot deep is actually not as bad as it sounds.
The author did a great job with providing family history, weaving it into the narrative about what happened at Fidelity. It provided some good side bars in detailing some of the non-family key players over the years as well as overall industry topics. If you’re interested in the space you will find this much more interesting than someone who would just have passing curiosity. And I think therein is a question when it comes to who this book is for, given its depth and length. It’s definitely a history book and tries to examine events that happened within the company, and does not provide (nor portend to) any investing insight (unless you count the different businesses Ned dabbled into).
There were some shortcomings in this book which factored into my rating. This was a big topic with a lot of history, but there were times where it felt disjointed in its narrative. By this I mean there was a lot of discussion about the family, there was lot of discussion about what happened and was happening in the business, there were a number of items happening in the asset management world as well. The problem for me was in the way that the author needed them together came across more jumbled and disorganized at times.
The book is not always straight chronological because inherently things that happen or don’t influence later decisions, and the author tried to include that for context. However there was often some repeating of the same fact over and over, or tange
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews