Is There a Next Jack Bogle? Not If You Ask Jack Bogle

Freezing rain is falling on the sidewalks at Vanguard Group’s sprawling suburban campus outside Philadelphia, but it doesn’t slow down company founder John C. “Jack” Bogle as he hustles from his office to the cafeteria for lunch. “This is a walking stick, not a cane,” he jokes, and he waves it in the air for a moment. “Anyone who calls it a cane will get three good whacks.”

They’re not the only ones likely to get a good thrashing from Bogle, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its April issue. Even with the ailments that come from being 85 years old and having had a heart transplant 19 years ago, Bogle arrives at work every day itching for a fight with anyone who questions the wisdom of the low-cost index funds he has advocated for four decades. His message—he will repeat it as often as necessary—is that trying to beat the market is a fool’s game and that fees collected by fund managers who say they know how are a waste of money.