Character Counts : The Creation and Building of the Vanguard Group

John Bogle, the founder and former Chairman of Vanguard, is one of Irwin's best selling authors, and one of the titans of the investing industry. His Bogle on Mutual Funds, published in September of 1993, sold more than 100,000 units in its first 18 weeks, and has gone on to sell more than a quarter of a million copies. He returned to McGraw-Hill with Bogle on Investing, which included two dozen of Bogle's most celebrated speeches of the last four decades. This, the third in our Bogle library, is a collection of his most memorable speeches given to the "crew" of Vanguard. It tells how Bogle built Vanguard and transformed the investing world---in his own words. It also distills the principles upon which the company stands, as well as the key milestones of the company. Started in 1974, Vanguard has emerged as one of the world's most important financial institutions, managing more than half a trillion dollars in assets. The story of Vanguard, in many ways, is the story of the industry itself. When Vanguard started, the entire industry was a 38 billion dollar industry. Today it is a 7 trillion dollar industry! Bogle's speeches are exceptionally well done, and include Bogle's thoughts on topics that go beyond the world of investing. The purpose of the speeches are four-fold: to "Inculcate," "Communicate," "Elevate" and "Celebrate" the values and achievements of the company. Sample speeches include: - Creative Destruction - Press on Regardless - The Road Less Traveled By - Let the Wisdom of the Past Illuminate our Future - Patience, Persistence and Courage - The Power of an Idea - Growth Has It's Season - The More Glorious the Triumph - A Pause in the Markets, Praise for the Crew - The Individual and the Institution - If You Build It, They Will Come Bogle is one of the great financial figures in history, having been named by Fortune as one of the "four giants of finance" of the twentieth century. In addition to the speeches, the book includes a new introduction, additional commentary, as well as Bogle's thoughts on how the events of the September 11th tragedy affected Vanguard and its employees. The book will be must reading for all "Bogle-heads" and Vanguard enthusiasts.