Charles Johnson – Billionaire

Charles Johnson is the largest shareholder in Franklin Resources, parent of mutual fund giant Franklin Templeton, which has clients in more than 180 countries. Johnson spent 56 years with the company before handing the chairman post to his son, Gregory, who is also CEO, in 2013. Johnson’s half-brother, Rupert Johnson Jr. , is vice-chairman and a fellow member of the Forbes 400. Charles became CEO at age 24 in 1957, a decade after his father, Rupert Johnson Sr., founded the company as Franklin Distributors. Gregory took over as CEO in 2005. Under Charles’ leadership, the company’s assets under management rose from $2.5 million in 1957 to more than $800 billion when he retired. Charles also owns an estimated 26% stake in the San Francisco Giants baseball team. In 2012, he and his wife donated their historic, 67,000-square-foot Carolands Chateau in Hillsborough, Calif. to the Carolands Foundation for preservation.

Early life

Charles Bartlett Johnson was born in 1933 in Montclair, New Jersey, to Rupert Harris Johnson and Florence Endler. His father and mother divorced during his childhood, leaving Charles to live with his mother and four siblings.^[3] His father’s second marriage produced Rupert Jr., Charles’ later business partner, and two other step-siblings.

Johnson attended Montclair High School, and then Yale College, where he graduated in 1954. At Yale he played offensive guard for the football team and waited dining hall tables as a scholarship student.^[3][4] An ROTC cadet, he later served as a lieutenant in the United States Army stationed in Germany.^[3]

Career

Johnson and his brother, Rupert Johnson, Jr., worked at Franklin Resources, a mutual fund company started by Rupert Sr. in 1947. In 1957, at the age of 24, he became CEO^[5] and is credited for taking the company public in 1971. He was succeeded by his son Greg Johnson (businessman) in 2013.^[6]

Johnson is principal owner of the MLB San Francisco Giants, although he leaves team control duties to the head of the ownership group, Larry Baer. Other members of the group include Scott Seligman, Peter Magowan, Philip Halperin, Allan Byer, and David S. Wolff.^[7]

Source:

1. forbes

2. wikipedia