Larry Fink, CEO of the asset management behemoth BlackRock (ticker: BLK), is the subject of a favorable profile in the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The online headline reads,
How BlackRock’s Larry Fink Won Over Donald Trump.
The print headline reads,
Republicans hated him until he delivered the Panama Canal.
As you should be aware, he hasn’t quite delivered the Canal, as of yet. The WSJ profile appears as the lead headline in the paper’s Exchange (B) section, spills below the fold, and continues on, filling the entirety of page B-5. The paper notes that Fink runs the world’s largest private asset management company, with $11 trillion (with a “t”) under management.
The WSJ piece begins with the observation,
From his perch atop the investing world, with $11 trillion in assets, including portions of millions of Americans’ retirement funds…
Your correspondent is no exception. I checked.
Of course, as the WSJ profile explains, BlackRock’s deal in Panama won’t deliver the Canal itself, but rather, the purchase of some terminal facilities at either end of the big ditch. (“A man, a plan, a canal: Panama!”) Part of BlackRock’s big push into infrastructure, the terminals now belong to a Hong Kong-based company. China objects to the deal.
The paper notes the 2024 acquisition by Blackrock of the company Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). I have been critical of late of BlackRock’s efforts (through GIP) to gain a controlling interest in the Duluth-based electric utility Minnesota Power.
In keeping with my weekend Margin Call theme, it turns out that Fink got his start in the 1970’s and 1980’s trading mortgage-backed securities. The WSJ profile omits Fink’s membership on the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF). To be fair, Fink’s corporate bio does disclose the link.
The appearance of “Republicans” in the paper headline refers to Fink’s past support for the ESG (environmental, social corporate governance) style of investing.
Adaptation is the key to survival.
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