Wall Street mocked the first index fund as 'Bogle's Folly' — it now manages trillions

When John Bogle launched Vanguard's First Index Investment Trust in 1976, he aimed to raise up to $150 million; investors put in barely $11 million, and rivals dismissed the whole idea of just buying the market instead of beating it as 'un-American.' Bogle's bet was that low-cost, unmanaged funds would beat most professional stock-pickers over time, and decades of data proved him right.

— John C. Bogle, John C. Bogle — Vanguard First Index Investment Trust, founded 1976