Vanguard introduced a money-market fund in 1975 and bond funds in 1977, run by outside managers. In 1981, Vanguard hired its own staff of investment professionals to run those funds. Investment-management services were provided to the funds at cost, making the funds’ expenses among the lowest in the industry.
Management Battle
Bogle remained Vanguard’s CEO until 1996, when he handed the post to his designated successor, John Brennan. Bogle remained chairman of the board and began squabbling with Brennan over the company’s growth plans, with Bogle questioning Brennan’s plans to offer discount brokerage services and develop a so-called supermarket for online mutual fund shopping.
After reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2000, Bogle asked the Vanguard board to waive the rule for him. It refused, in what was seen as a decision cementing Brennan’s authority at the firm.
Bogle’s books on investing included “Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life” published in 2008 and “The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism” in 2005.
Fortune Magazine named him one of four “Giants of the Investment Industry of the 20th Century” in 1999. Time named him one of the world’s 100 most powerful and influential people in 2004.
Bogle and his wife, the former Eve Sherrerd, had six children: Barbara, Jean, Nancy, Sandra, Andrew and John Jr., according to Marquis Who’s Who. John Bogle Jr. is a limited partner at Bogle Investment Management, a Newton, Massachusetts, firm that follows an active stock picking approach.
In January 1996, Bogle passed the reins of Vanguard to his hand-picked successor, John J. Brennan, who joined the company in 1982 as Mr. Bogle’s assistant. The following month, Bogle underwent heart transplant surgery. A few months later, he was back in the office, writing and speaking about issues of importance to mutual fund investors.
In December 1999, he stepped down from the Vanguard board of directors and created the Bogle Financial Markets Resource Center, a Vanguard-supported venture. Bogle worked as the center’s president—analyzing issues affecting the financial markets, mutual funds, and investors through books, articles, and public speeches—until his death. He wrote 12 books, selling over 1.1 million copies worldwide.