Lightning Strikes: The Creation of Vanguard, the
First Index Mutual Fund, and the
Revolution It Spawned

Abstract

“Lightning Strikes” tells the story of how Vanguard founder John C. Bogle came to create a unique mutual mutual fund structure in 1974, and how the index fund strategy almost inevitably followed. Paul Samuelson’s essay in the first issue of The Journal of Portfolio Management was published at almost the same moment that Vanguard began. In “Challenge to Judgment,” Samuelson urged that somebody, somewhere, somehow form an index fund. Inspired, Mr. Bogle accepted the challenge, and in 1975 created the world’s first index mutual fund. Vanguard’s two disruptive innovations—mutuality and indexing—have combined to make Vanguard the largest firm in the mutual fund industry. In the second part of the essay, Mr. Bogle summarizes 10 of the 13 essays he has written for The Journal of Portfolio Management and provides a perspective on his works.