Envestnet CEO Judson Bergman and his wife Mary Miller were killed early Thursday morning in an automobile accident in San Francisco.
The car accident occurred about 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 3 when an intoxicated woman driving the wrong way on the highway collided with a taxi carrying The Bergmans, according to the Associated Press. Both drivers of the vehicles passed away as well.
The Envestnet board of directors implemented the company’s emergency succession plan and has appointed Bill Crager, president of Envestnet and CEO of Envestnet Wealth Solutions, as interim CEO. Crager has served as president of Envestnet since 2002. The board of directors also appointed Ross Chapin, the lead independent director of Envestnet’s board of directors, as interim chairman of Envestnet’s board of directors.
Bergman founded Envestnet in 1999 to create a software desktop for independent financial advisers. Envestnet serves 3,500 institutional clients, counts 88,000 financial advisers on its platform and serves more than $2.6 trillion in assets.
Prior to founding Envestnet, Bergman was the managing director for mutual funds at Nuveen Investments, where he was responsible for the profitable growth of the firm’s mutual fund business and also served on the firm’s investment management committee.
In February, the firm announced plans to purchase PortfolioCenter management and reporting technology from Charles Schwab. This news was followed by the March announcement that it would buy PIETech, which includes the popular MoneyGuidePro financial planning tools, for about $500 million.
Miller was the founder and managing partner of independent wealth management firm Hanover Hill Wealth Advisors in Chicago.