John W. Rogers, Jr. founded Ariel Investments in 1983 at age 24 with $10,000 from friends and family, building it into the largest minority-run mutual fund firm in the United States. Born in Chicago in 1958, he graduated from Princeton University in 1980 where he studied economics and captained the basketball team. His investment passion began at age 12 when his father bought him stocks instead of toys. Rogers serves on prominent corporate boards including McDonald's, Nike, and The New York Times Company, and has extensive civic involvement including vice chair of University of Chicago's board of trustees. He co-chaired Barack Obama's 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee and serves on the Obama Foundation board. Rogers has received numerous honors including Princeton's Woodrow Wilson Award and recognition alongside Warren Buffett in 'The World's 99 Greatest Investors.'

Read More

Ariel's investment philosophy emphasizes finding unrecognized value in small and medium-sized companies, investing with a margin of safety, mitigating risk through integrated sustainability analysis, and maintaining a long-term, contrarian mindset. The firm seeks value amongst small- and medium-sized companies that are widely misunderstood, ignored and/or underfollowed. Their approach involves first finding the businesses they want to own and then patiently waiting for the right entry price—one with an ample margin of safety. Maximizing shareholder returns is more than just math, as they integrate all material issues, including sustainability-related factors. Their job is to drown out the noise and think long-term, looking past today's turbulence to see tomorrow's possibilities as disciplined, value investors.

Read More