Also they simultaneously hold the ownership rights as well as equivalent owenrship liabilities, so they own shit squat in net terms (excpet maybe their management fees).

It’s even weirder than that!

Vanguard has an odd corporate structure where it’s owned by the funds that it manages, so it’s effectively a co-op owned by its customers.

I don’t understand why customer owned co-ops aren’t ubiquitous. Vanguard is amazing- low fees, and great services- they beat all of the competition. I had to call their support line today and it was the most professional customer service I’ve ever experienced.

Interesting, that's inline with Bogle's mission for low (0%) mgmt fees.

I think it probably doesn't apply to other majority holders like BlackRock though.

Vanguard is everyone’s retirement account. Everytime someone buys their S&P 500 ETF, they go buy stocks.