The House That Bogle Built:
How John Bogle and Vanguard Reinvented the Mutual
Fund Industry
John Bogle’s journey from financial-industry pioneer to one of its
toughest critics
Arguably the greatest shareholder advocate in the history of Wall Steet, John Bogle not
only created the first index mutual fund but has become the primary voice for change in an
industry plagued by excess and complacency. Bogle stumbled upon mutual funds by accident
in 1949 as a college student at Princeton. In his junior year, he read a Fortune article
about the burgeoning fund industry that sparked his interest, and he wrote his now famous
senior thesis about it.
What began as an intellectual pursuit would turn into Bogle’s life mission. The House
That Bogle Built chronicles the years of Bogle’s development from college whiz kid into
a titan of the mutual fund industry and shareholder advocate—highlighting his creation
of the Vanguard Group and the Vanguard 500 Index Fund and his frequent battles to shake up
the status quo. It takes you through the two decades he spent running Vanguard, until his
forced retirement in 1999, and discloses what he thinks about the fund industry today.
Bogle has always stood out for his extraordinary talents in math, analysis, management,
and investing. But his most noteworthy trait is his most basic: his humanism in an
industry not exactly famous for placing people over profit. It’s Bogle’s dedication to
clients’ interests above all else that has earned him the reputation as the
“conscience” of the investing industry.
In his ninth decade of life, Bogle is remarkably candid about the role he plays at
Vanguard today—and about his opinion of Jack Brennan, his successor. “How do you keep
Vanguard a place where judgment has at least a fighting chance to triumph over process?”
he asks. Skeptical but never defeatist, Bogle maintains a retired-but-active status at the
company, keeping a close watch over those now at the helm of Vanguard.
The House That Bogle Built reveals one of the investing world’s most
fascinating and complex figures. A dogged advocate of shareholder democracy, he was a
self-confessed “dictator” at Vanguard. A brilliant mathematician, he is more
interested in people than numbers. Fiercely competitive, he bemoans the cut-throat
approach that drives his industry of choice. Always, though, Bogle places the good of the
client before anything else—a practice that has become steadily rarer in his business.
The House That Bogle Built provides an insightful look at the past,
present, and future of one of today’s largest industries, through the eyes of one of its
most influential pioneer.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. "I Thought I was in Heaven";
Chapter 2. Mutual Fund Pioneer;
Chapter 3. "He knows more about the Fund Business than we do";
Chapter 4. A Marriage Made in Heaven;
Chapter 5. The Storm Brews;
Chapter 6. Throwing Down the Gauntlet;
Chapter 7. Fired with Enthusiasm;
Chapter 8. Bogle Pulls a Coup;
Chapter 9. The Future Structure Study;
Chapter 10. From the Deck of the HMS Vanguard;
Chapter 11. Cutting the Gordian Knot;
Chapter 12. The 18th Century Man;
Chapter 13. The Vanguard Manual;
Chapter 14. Creating Loyalty and Respect;
Chapter 15. The Crest of the Wave;
Chapter 16. No Thrills of Chills;
Chapter 17. The Devil's Invention;
Chapter 18. The Man Who Walked on Water;
Chapter 19. Swiss Army to the Rescue;
Chapter 20. The Great Sacred Cow Sweep;
Chapter 21. Press on Regardless;
Chapter 22. The Fidelity Wars;
Chapter 23. A Cross between Don Quixote, Ralph Nader and Henry Ford;
Chapter 24. The Succession;
Chapter 25. Vanguard Post Bogle;
Chapter 26. Birth of a Reformer;
Chapter 27. The Rise of the Speculator;
Chapter 28. The Failure of Fiduciaries;
Chapter 29. The Heart of the Matter;
Chapter 30. The Future of Indexing;
Chapter 31. The Future of Vanguard
304 pages, Hardcover