George Donnelly
Executive Editor – Boston Business Journal
Tomorrow, many in the business community will witness a rare sighting: The Johnson family publicly accepting an award for its contribution to the greater good of the region.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce will honor the mutual fund magnates by inducting the Johnson family into the Chamber’s Academy of Distinguished Bostonians tomorrow evening at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The Johnsons, sheepishly, I’m sure, will accept the applause of some 1,500 attendees. The public recognition is long overdue, in part because the Johnsons have fended off accolades with a passion.
It’s beyond blatantly obvious that no executive has ever come close to doing as much for the Boston economy, and the health of many civic institutions, as Ned Johnson.
But he has chosen to lead in a trademark spartan, no-baloney fashion. He has let Fidelity speak for itself. The brand of Fidelity Investments
may be everywhere, but the Johnsons strictly are not, and very much on purpose. The family takes aversion to publicity and personal branding to an extreme.
In my 11 years here, I have seen Ned Johnson speak in public once, introducing an executive at the CEO Club in Boston. He did so again two years ago, introducing GE CEO Jeffrey Immeldt. You’re as likely to run into Ned at your average rubber chicken lunch as spot a zebra galloping on State Street.
At 81, Ned is living history, a living legend. It’s not only that he grew Fidelity into a 40,000-person company. His entrepreneurial instincts led to the creation of a handful of other successful companies, including Boston Coach and Veritude. His investment in the Seaport, before it was the Seaport, set the stage for the area’s remarkable transition in the past few years. Under his leadership, Fidelity has embodied what’s best about well-run private companies: opportunistic but also flush enough to invest for the long term.
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