Franklin Templeton, Inc.

Is Franklin Resources the same as Franklin Templeton?
Yes. Franklin Resources, Inc. was the legal name until August 17, 2026, when it became Franklin Templeton, Inc. The NYSE ticker BEN is unchanged.

Is Franklin Templeton publicly traded?
Yes. It trades on the NYSE under ticker BEN.

Who is the CEO of Franklin Templeton?
Jenny Johnson, great-granddaughter of founder Rupert H. Johnson Sr., president and CEO since February 2020.

How much does Franklin Templeton manage?
Approximately $1.8 trillion as of September 30, 2026.

Did Franklin Templeton buy Legg Mason?
Yes, in July 2020 for about $4.5 billion, adding Western Asset, ClearBridge, Brandywine Global, Martin Currie, Royce, and Clarion Partners.

Does the Johnson family still control Franklin Templeton?
The family holds a substantial ownership position and Jenny Johnson leads the company, but it is a public corporation with majority outside shareholders.

Rupert H. Johnson Sr. founded Franklin Distributors in New York in 1947, naming it after Benjamin Franklin. The company launched the Franklin Custodian Funds and grew through the postwar mutual fund boom, relocating to San Mateo, California, and going public in the mid-1980s.

The firm built its global footprint through acquisition. The 1992 purchase of Templeton, Galbraith and Hansberger brought Sir John Templeton's international value franchise and the Templeton name. Subsequent deals added Mutual Series, Fiduciary Trust, and other managers. Under Greg Johnson, the founder's grandson, the company spent decades as Franklin Resources, the legal name behind the Franklin Templeton consumer brand.

Jenny Johnson, Rupert's great-granddaughter, became president and CEO in February 2020 and drove an acquisition-led rebuild. The July 2020 acquisition of Legg Mason for about $4.5 billion added Western Asset Management, ClearBridge, Brandywine Global, Martin Currie, Royce, and Clarion Partners. Benefit Street Partners had arrived in 2019, followed by O'Shaughnessy Asset Management's Canvas platform, Lexington Partners, Putnam Investments in January 2024, and European private credit manager Apera Asset Management in 2025.

The 2024 to 2025 period brought a major test when federal prosecutors charged former Western Asset Management co-CIO Ken Leech with defrauding clients through a trade allocation scheme. The scandal drove heavy outflows at Western and a remediation program across the fixed income platform. By fiscal 2026, flows had recovered: every asset class posted positive long-term net flows for the year.

Effective August 17, 2026, the legal entity Franklin Resources, Inc. changed its name to Franklin Templeton, Inc., aligning the corporate name with the global brand. The ticker BEN remained unchanged.

The company operates a corporate stewardship framework covering responsible investing at the manager level, with ESG integration left to each investment affiliate. It publishes annual sustainability reports and participates in industry initiatives on climate disclosure.

Western Asset Management charges: Federal prosecutors and the SEC charged former Western co-CIO Ken Leech in 2024 with a years-long scheme allocating favorable trades to certain client portfolios over others. The charges triggered billions in client outflows, management changes, and remediation at Western, and weighed on Franklin's results through fiscal 2025.

India fund windup: Franklin Templeton India's 2020 decision to wind up six debt funds produced years of litigation and regulatory proceedings in India, largely resolved through court-supervised repayments to unit holders.