Peter Lynch can trace his interest in the stock market to a golf club in Newton, Massachusetts, where, starting at age 11, he worked as a caddy. While on the golf course, he would listen to the business executives talk about the stock market. He would follow the stocks they mentioned and saw they often rose in value. He made his first investment while a student at Boston College. He served in the Army for two years. After earning an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lynch joined Fidelity as an analyst. He took over the management of the Magellan Fund, a small aggressive capital appreciation fund, in 1977 when its assets were $20 million.
Under Mr. Lynch’s management, Magellan averaged an annual return of 29% and was the best-performing mutual fund in the world. When he retired as fund manager, the Magellan Fund was worth $14 billion.
He has shared his advice about investing through his best-selling books, One Up on Wall Street and Beating The Street, which have been translated into several languages. Mr. Lynch’s third book, Learn to Earn, is a beginner’s guide to the basics of investing and business.
Having lost his own father when he was just 10 years old, Mr. Lynch knew he did not want to miss out on any more time with his own family. So in 1990, at age 46, he stepped away from his grinding work schedule to spend more time with his wife Carolyn and their daughters.
While Mr. Lynch holds the position of vice chairman of Fidelity Management & Research Co., he has devoted much of his time to philanthropy, giving generously to causes special to him, including Boston College.
He and Mrs. Lynch established the Lynch Foundation, which provides assistance to programs primarily in Massachusetts with an emphasis on education; culture and historic preservation; healthcare and medical research; and religious and educational efforts of the Roman Catholic Church. The Lynch Foundation views its gifts as investments, choosing to support charities with both innovative ideas and strong leadership.
Among the many organizations that have received Lynch Foundation support are: City Year, Inc.; Cristo Rey High School Boston; First Night, Inc.; Friends of the Public Garden; Greater Boston Food Bank; Partners in Health; Museum of Science Boston, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, among others.
For 20 years, Mr. Lynch served as president of the Catholic Schools Foundation in Boston and under his leadership it raised $100 million and awarded scholarships to more than 60,000 students through its Inner-City Scholarship Fund. In 1999, the Boston College School of Education was dedicated the Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch School of Education in honor of the Lynches’ $10-million gift to the University. In 2010, an additional gift from Mr. and Mrs. Lynch established the Lynch Leadership Academy, a training program for early- to mid-career principals from Boston-area public, Catholic and charter schools.
Mr. Lynch has been inducted into the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Academy of Distinguished Bostonians and named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Wharton School named him Outstanding Alumnus in 1994 and presented him with the 2011 Joseph Wharton Award for Lifetime Achievement. He also has been honored with the 2004 Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam Award from the New England Province of the Society of Jesus and the 1992 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award from the National Catholic Educational Association, among many other honors. He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Boston College.
