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In each episode, we explore investing through an entirely unique lens, bringing in authors to discuss books that have directly or indirectly influenced our investment decisions.

How did one family build Fidelity into one of the most powerful forces in American investing, and what allowed it to endure across three generations?

In the latest episode of A Book with Legs, Smead Capital Management CEO and Portfolio Manager Cole Smead and Analyst Will Keenan sit down with journalist and author Justin Baer to discuss his book, titled “House of Fidelity: The Rise of the Johnson Dynasty and the Company That Changed American Investing.”

Cole and Will explore the 80-year rise of Fidelity with Justin, tracing three generations of the Johnson family and the various investing styles of Fidelity leadership throughout the years. They also discuss the closed-door battles that shaped the firm’s direction, the rise and legacy of Peter Lynch, and what this story tells us about active management businesses that last.

Justin 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.

Purchase “House of Fidelity: The Rise of the Johnson Dynasty and the Company That Changed American Investing” here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/justin-baer/house-of-fidelity/9781538766958/

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