Good morning, Boston. Here are the five things you need to know to start your Friday.
Ned Johnson dies at 91
Edward “Ned” Johnson III, who led Fidelity Investments for four decades before handing it off to his daughter Abby in 2014, has died at 91. (For more, keep scrolling).
Population drop
Grant Welker reports that Boston was among a handful of the nation’s largest, costliest cities that saw its population shrink last year, according to new census data.
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Manager-employee disconnect
Most managers want their employees back in the office full-time, but a lot of employees would rather quit, according to a new survey.
MGH’s $50M donation
Mass General Hospital has received a $50 million grant from the Lunder Foundation to support education across the health professions, Cassie McGrath reports.
Community colleges join forces on jobs
Hilary Burns of The Business Journals spoke with Jackie Jenkins-Scott, interim president of Roxbury Community College, and others among the 22 colleges nationwide in a coalition to improve the career and economic outcomes of students of color.
What else you need to know
By the numbers
Tell us about your workplace
Take 2 minutes to answer the latest BBJ/Seven Letter poll on the workplace of the future here.
This day in history
On this day in 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. factory in New York City burned down, killing 146 workers.
Names and faces
Andover-based Casa Systems Inc. has named Edward Durkin as its CFO. Durkin was formerly the CFO of Fuze.
What I’m watching
Inventing Anna, on Netflix
What I’m reading
Voyage of Mercy, by Stephen Puleo
What I’m listening to
Australia, If You’re Listening podcast, Season 3: Russia
Boston has lost an icon
Edward C. “Ned” Johnson III died on Wednesday at 91. It’s hard to overstate the impact Ned Johnson had on Boston. Even harder to overstate the impact of the Johnson family and that little family business of theirs. You know the one: Fidelity Investments.
Ned Johnson inherited the firm from his father in the 1970s, and he’s credited for the transformation it underwent, moving it beyond its main product, mutual funds, into the discount brokerage business and, as fewer companies provided pension plans, 401(k) investments.
Abigail Johnson, who posted on social media yesterday the news of her father’s passing, took the helm in 2014, and has been hiring incredible talent and continued growing the business into the asset-management juggernaut it is today.
One of the stories I remember most about Ned Johnson isn’t even that long ago. It’s from 2015, about a massive oil painting of the martyred St. Stephen that was donated to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The Johnson family has always been very private, but Ned Johnson’s passion for art would sometimes attract attention. The article shared details about his Brookfield Arts Foundation, which would buy artwork and loan pieces to museums (Brookfield’s assets as of December 2019 were $284 million). His best known acquisition? A $16.8 million historic house dismantled in China and rebuilt at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem.
His philanthropy may have been a behind-the-scenes exercise, but his commitment to giving is known beyond just Boston. In 1991, under Ned Johnson’s leadership, Fidelity set up its 501(c)(3) as the first national donor-advised fund program. Fidelity Charitable is a giving machine: It distributed $10.3 billion from 287,000 individual donors in last year alone.
The Johnson family and its philanthropic attention has always been the source of interest in Boston. That’s not about to change anytime soon.
PARTING SHOT
The Oscars are this Sunday. One of my favorite Oscars moments was when Kermit sang Rainbow Connection, and was introduced by Miss Piggy and Johnny Carson:
We hope you can join the BBJ for part-two of our Middle Market Leader series!
Good News Tuesday is a new BBJ feature in partnership with Santander Bank highlighting positive acts that provide inspiration to others to follow suit.
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