John W. Rogers Jr. is Founder, Chairman, Co-CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Ariel Investments, the largest minority-run mutual fund firm in the United States. He founded the company in 1983 at age 24 with patient value investing as the cornerstone philosophy.

John earned an AB in economics from Princeton University, where he was captain of the varsity basketball team, and worked for 2.5 years as a stockbroker at William Blair & Company. His passion for investing began at age 12 when his father gave him stocks instead of toys for birthdays and Christmas.

John has been featured alongside Warren Buffett, Sir John Templeton and Ben Graham in The World's 99 Greatest Investors by Magnus Angenfelt. He received Princeton University's highest honor, the Woodrow Wilson Award, in 2008 and the Order of Lincoln in 2023.

John serves on the boards of Nike, The New York Times Company, and Ryan Specialty, and previously served on the boards of McDonald's for 20 years and Exelon. He served as co-chair of President Obama's Presidential Inaugural Committee in 2009 and serves on the Obama Foundation board.

Ariel Investments manages $13.8 billion in assets as of 2025 and launched Ariel Alternatives in 2021, including Project Black, a $1.45 billion private equity fund to scale minority-owned businesses. The firm employs 143 people with 95% employee and board ownership.