[1] In 1969, the company formed Fidelity International Limited (FIL) to serve non-U.S. markets and subsequently spun it off in 1980 into an independent entity owned by its employees.

[8] In 2003, the company launched its first ETF, called the Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index Tracking Stock Fund (ONEQ).

[15] In October 2019, the company launched Fidelity Digital Asset Services, which will handle cryptocurrency custody and trade execution for institutional investors.

[19] At the end of January 2020, Fidelity launched "Stocks By The Slice", a program aimed at investors wishing to capitalize on fractional-share ownership and micro-investing.

[26] In June 2023, Fidelity applied with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

As Lynch recounted, the early sales staff of the Magellan Fund was mostly part-time, traveling employees until the 1973–1974 stock market crash led to a severe decline in interest.

Under Lynch's leadership Magellan averaged 29% a year, more than doubling the growth rate of the benchmark S&P 500, and remains the best-performing mutual fund in history over such an extended period.

Together, the four Fidelity zero-expense-ratio equity funds[37] provide market exposure to more than two-thirds of industry index assets.

[41] The company has been a major investor of real estate, owning the Seaport Center and 2.5 million square feet of office space in Boston.

Fidelity has also strategically invested in the telecom/managed services/data center industries, including COLT Telecom Group in Europe,[44] MetroRED in South America, and KVH Co. Ltd. in Japan.

[45] In 2013, they sold Boston Coach, a limousine and black-car service, founded in 1985 by Ned Johnson after waiting too long for a taxi, to Harrison Global.

Fidelity International (FIL) also runs its own proprietary investing arm called Eight Roads.

[52][50] In February 2007, the NASD, a division of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, fined four FMR-affiliated broker-dealers $3.75 million for alleged registration, supervision and e-mail retention violations.

[53] In 2004, Fidelity Brokerage paid $2 million to settle charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that employees altered and destroyed documents in 21 of its 88 branch offices between January 2001 and July 2002.

Management was accused of pressuring branch employees to have perfect inspections and gave notice of the inspections and that at least 62 employees destroyed or altered potentially improper documents maintained at branch offices including new account applications, letters of authorization and variable annuity forms.

Abigail was once the largest single shareholder with about 25% ownership, but in October 2005, it was reported that she had sold a "significant" portion of her shares to family trusts, and that there were doubts as to whether she was still in line to succeed her father.

[58] Most of the remaining 51% of the company is held by various Fidelity employees and ex-employees, including fund managers and ex-managers, such as Peter Lynch.

Fidelity has experimented with marketing techniques directed to the baby boomer demographic, releasing Never Stop Doing What You Love, a compilation of songs by Paul McCartney.

On the day of the disc's release, company employees were treated to a special recorded message by Paul himself informing them that "Fidelity and [he] have a lot in common" and urging them to "never stop doing what you love".