See Also: Larry Fink (Person)
BlackRock is the world’s largest investment management company, with nearly $7.5 trillion in managed assets as of January 2020. 20
Influence
The BlackRock Investment Institute
The BlackRock Investment Institute provides industry-leading insights and economic analysis and weekly analyses of major occurrences in the market. For example, during the week of May 11, 2020, the Institute assessed how a German court’s demand that the European Central Bank justify trillions of dollars in purchases designed to keep the continent’s economy afloat during the pandemic-related economic crisis would impact both the future independence of central banks as well as the future of European bonds. 27
BlackRock publicly lists its members in more than 20 trade associations, from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce to the American Council for Renewable Energy. The company pays at least $25,000 for its membership in each organization. 29 According to OpenSecrets, the company’s Super PAC spending was roughly 51% towards Republican-centered groups while the other 49% was towards Democrat-leaning groups. 29
FEC filings also show that members of BlackRock’s leadership team who contributed towards the company’s PAC during the 2024 election cycle include Larry Fink, the company’s board chair and CEO; Samara Cohen, the chief investment officer for the company’s ETF and Index Investments; Sudhir Nair, the global head of the company’s tech platform Aladdin; and Manish Mehta, the head of BlackRock Global Markets and Index Investments. 29 In addition, filings show Fink donated $5,000 towards the company PAC between January 2023 and October 2024 while donating a $11,600 grant towards a joint fundraising committee that was split between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and the campaigns of several congressional Democrats. 29 In the same cycle, Fink has personally donated to other congressional races and their super PACS including Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va), Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va), Sen. John Tester, (D-MT), and Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-OH). 29
Philanthropic Foundations
BlackRock has founded several charitable efforts and organizations since 2008, when the company began to assist people hurt by the real estate crash. 36
The company released a 2019 report advising firms on opportunities to move beyond being pushed in the direction of ESG-focused investing by activists or political pressure, and into a policy of proactively incorporating ESG values into a firm’s strategic goals. 40
Influencing EXXON’s Election of Directors
In May 2021, Engine No. 1, a California-based hedge fund which engages in environmental activism, nominated four candidates to Exxon’s board of directors to agitate for environmentalist reforms.After BlackRock’s support of environmentalist hedge fund Engine No. 1’s successful election of two directors to the board of Exxon Mobile Corp, 31 business owners, managers, and CEOs signed a letter to Larry Fink, BlackRock’s co-founder, CEO, and board chair. The letter admonished Fink for allowing BlackRock to make business decisions based on personal, politicized interpretations of “sustainability” and “acceptable behavior.” 44. A research paper published in 2025 found that, using a difference-in-differences design that analyzed company tweets, there was an increase in partisan Democratic language amongst firms that had high BlackRock ownership following the release of Fink’s letter. The study looked broadly at partisan trends amongst various companies, and found that those with high BlackRock ownership experienced a particularly strong uptick in 2019. 45
Criticism
ESG Criticism from the Right
An April 15, 2020 letter from conservative leaders and right-leaning corporate CEOs urged BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to reconsider BlackRock’s ESG focus. By mixing the concerns of ESG stakeholders with those of shareholders—the latter to whom BlackRock has fiduciary duties—letter signers claimed Fink was causing three levels of harm:20 For example, BlackRock received three no-bid contracts during the 2008 real estate recession from then-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, 0){
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