Abigail Johnson
Abigail Pierrepont Johnson (born December 19, 1961) is an American billionaire businesswoman. She has served as chief executive officer of American investment firm Fidelity Investments (FMR) since 2014 and as chairman and CEO since 2016; she is also chairman of its international sister company Fidelity International (FIL).[1] Fidelity was founded by her grandfather Edward C. Johnson II, and her father Edward C. "Ned" Johnson III later served as chairman and CEO.[2] As of December 2025, Johnson owned an estimated 29% of Fidelity, which managed about $7.1 trillion in discretionary assets, while the Johnson family as a whole owned around 49% of the company.[2]
Johnson's wealth was estimated at approximately $35 billion as of 2025, making her one of the world's wealthiest women.[2] Under her leadership, Fidelity has expanded into digital assets, including experimenting with bitcoin mining, launching Fidelity Digital Assets to provide institutional custody and trading for bitcoin and ether, and offering the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) approved in January 2024.[11]
Early Life and Education
Johnson attended Cambridge, Massachusetts private school Buckingham Browne and Nichols before graduating from Hobart and William Smith with a bachelor of arts degree in art history in 1984.[3] After working as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton from 1985 to 1986, she completed an MBA at Harvard Business School.[4]
Fidelity Investments
Upon graduating from Harvard Business School in 1988, Johnson joined Fidelity Investments – which her grandfather Edward Johnson II founded in 1946[4] – as a full-time analyst and portfolio manager and over more than two decades held a series of investment and management roles before assuming top leadership positions at the firm. In 2001, she was promoted to president of Fidelity Asset Management. In 2005, she became head of Retail, Workplace, and Institutional Business. She was named president of Fidelity in 2012, became CEO in 2014, a role her father had held since 1977,[5] and in 2016 she became chairman as well.[6]
Under Johnson's leadership, Fidelity grew to oversee a large retail and institutional platform. By 2024, the firm reported approximately $16.4 trillion in assets under administration, and in 2023 it generated about $28.2 billion in revenue, with revenues rising 12% that year and net flows of $647 billion entering Fidelity's platform.[12]
Johnson has been a key proponent of digital assets at Fidelity. The firm began experimenting with bitcoin mining around 2014 and in 2018 launched Fidelity Digital Assets to provide institutional custody and trading services for bitcoin, later expanding to ether and other digital assets.[11] Fidelity has also introduced crypto investment options in some workplace retirement accounts, including certain 401(k) plans, and sponsors the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, a spot bitcoin ETF approved by U.S. regulators in January 2024 that quickly attracted billions of dollars in assets and became one of the largest of the new U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, as reported in early 2025.[14][13]
Johnson has also held a number of industry and policy-related governance roles connected to her leadership at Fidelity. She is a member of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, serves on the board of directors of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), and was the first woman to serve on the board of the Financial Services Forum.[8]
Philanthropy
Johnson and the Johnson family have been frequent donors to cultural and educational nonprofits in the Boston area, including institutions such as Harvard University, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and Historic New England.[2] She has supported arts and community organizations and has been involved with a Boston homeless shelter.[2] Under her leadership, Fidelity launched the $250 million Invest in My Education (ME) program to help underserved and first-generation students complete college, alongside other community grantmaking initiatives highlighted by the firm’s workplace and community engagement efforts.[13]
Awards and Honors
In 2022, "Forbes" ranked her as the 5th most powerful woman in the world.[10] In 2018, "Forbes" ranked her as the 5th most powerful woman in the world. In 2016, "Forbes" ranked her as the 16th most powerful woman in the world. In 2015, she was ranked #19. In 2014, she was #34,[9] and in 2017 #7.[9] Forbes ranked her #6 on its 2024 list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women and #9 in 2025.[9]
American Banker ranked Johnson No. 2 on its 2024 "Most Powerful Women in Finance" list and No. 3 in 2025.[12][13]
