CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM | NOVEMBER 18, 2013 SHIA KAPOS TAKES NAMES One of the world’s ‘greatest investors’ looks back In 1984 and just a year into starting Ariel Capital Management ter who works at Kickstarter LLC, John Rogers Jr. realized it cost more to run a business than in New York. He’s separated he had anticipated, so he asked investors to re-up. from his second wife, attor- Those investors were his parents, classmates from the ney Sharon Fairley. University of Chicago Lab School—including best pal Arne “It’s disappointing. When Duncan, now U.S. education secretary—and the parents of Valerie you have a passion and you Jarrett, today an adviser to President Barack Obama. work at that, sometimes it can “It was stressful because I could feel we were making traction in cause challenges,” he says. attracting clients,” recalls Mr. Rogers during a wide-ranging inter- Along with growing his view on the occasion of Ariel’s 30th anniversary. He talks about business, Mr. Rogers loves John W. Rogers Jr. challenges, regrets, switching from red to blue and why he loves basketball, showcases a teddy bear collection in his office and McDonald’s. refuses to use email, calling it a distraction. He advocates for After he got that cash infusion, Mr. Rogers, a value investor in minorities in the C-suite and is famous for having helped Mr. the mode of Warren Buffett, and Ariel didn’t look back. Obama get elected. Black Monday in 1987 was a blip and the next 20 years a suc- Ironically, Mr. Rogers was a Republican up until 1991. That’s the cessful blur. year Clarence Thomas was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Rogers can’t say the same for the 2008 Great Recession. “It “I realized if he was a leader in the Republican Party, that wasn’t was brutal,” he says. “The only time in 30 years we’ve had layoffs, the role model that I could connect with,” Mr. Rogers says. and it was heart-wrenching.” His father is retired Cook County Juvenile Court Judge John Rogers Mr. Rogers found solace talking to “people in the trenches”: Sr., as liberal as they come, but his late mother, Jewel Lafontant- renowned investment managers Mario Gabelli, Staley Cates, Bill Mankarious, was a GOP stalwart who worked for President George Miller, Ned Jannotta and Ralph Wanger. H.W. Bush and gave a speech seconding Richard Nixon’s nomination Ariel is thriving now, says Mr. Rogers, recently named one for president at the 1960 Republican convention. of the “World’s 99 Greatest Investors” by hedge funder Mr. Rogers knew politics wasn’t for him after seeing how it Magnus Angenfelt. affected his mother’s life. “She’d leave her career (as an attorney) The firm, since renamed Ariel Investments LLC, started 2013 and go off to Washington for a few years and then come back and with $4.9 billion in assets under management and is now at $8.2 get re-established,” he recalls. “That’s not for me. I’ve had the same billion. It has attracted $1.3 billion in new assets this year. phone number for 30 years, lived in the same (River North) neigh- Mr. Rogers, 54, isn’t without regrets. “When you’re starting a borhood since I got home from college and worked here in two business, it’s challenging financially. You’re small. I was reluctant buildings in 30 years.” sometimes to stretch for talent that was available. Several folks McDonald’s servers know that Mr. Rogers, who’s on the ham- went on to great careers and you wish they were a part of your burger chain’s board, is a creature of habit. A daily patron, he used team,” he says, acknowledging that renowned value investor Tom to go for burgers but now prefers going early for a biscuit with but- Russo, a partner at Gardner Russo & Gardner in Lancaster, Pa., ter and to spread out at a table to read. was one who got away. So was Rob Mohn, who was just named “It’s a place for me to get away,” he says. “You get to know head of Columbia Acorn Fund in Chicago. Julio at this McDonald’s and Cindy at that McDonald’s. They A job that commands 24/7 attention also creates personal become friends.” regrets, says Mr. Rogers, who is divorced from Johnson Publishing Co. CEO Desiree Rogers. The two remain close and have a daugh- Contact: [email protected] Reprinted with permission from Crain's Chicago Business. © 2013 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. Visit www.chicagobusiness.com. #CB13068.