BlackRock. It’s a multi-national investment management corporation which spans over the financial world of the America’s, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Asia Pacific. There is no corner of the world untouched. So, what is this power-wielding corporation we rarely hear of? An investigation by our media department has put together some quick facts about the world’s biggest financial corporation.
Some history and figures:
- Founded in 1988, with 8 people under Blackstone Group;
- 1992 adopted the name “BlackRock” – worth then, $17 billion;
- 1994 BlackRock worth $53 billion;
- 12,000 employees;
- Started with $1 billion to establish growth; today, worth $4.6 trillion;
- Basis for BlackRock Solutions business;
- 1999 assets $165 billion
- 2004 assets $342 billion
Where BlackRock have Clients SOURCE: BlackRock.com
Subsidiary of
- PNC Financial – 1995
- Other subsidiaries (131) can be noted here.
Over 70 Offices in 30 Countries SOURCE: BlackRock.com
Biggest of many Mergers
- Barclays Global Investors – 2009
Other Acquisitions:
- State Street Research. (2005)
- Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. (2006)
- Quellos Group, LLC. (2007)
- Barclays Global Investors. (2009)
- U.S. Treasury contracts with BlackRock to help manage assets under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. (2009)
- Bank of Greece hires BlackRock Solutions to provide analysis and advice on the Greek banking system. (2011) – we all know what happened there…
Some of their “Milestones”
- They have confessed to giving advice to the Greek government on banking issues, and to the Federal Reserve.
- Past clients: Google, AT&T, Her Majesty’s Treasury.
SOURCE: BlackRock.com
*All stats avail on BlackRock.com website.
Questionable involvements
- Larry Fink, one of the founding members, and now CEO of BlackRock, has long standing partnerships with senior government officials. Fink was under scrutiny when BlackRock was recruited to help with the clean-up post GFC. BlackRock remained fairly unscathed during the crisis, closing their biggest deal only 2.5 years after it.
- Larry Fink – the largest fund manager in the world, is also a member of the “secret society” Kappa Beta Phi. Known for its Wall Street chapter of high-ranking financial executives, Fink has been a member of the society since 2002.
- During the merger year with Merrill Lynch, BlackRock defaulted on a project that left the California Pension and Retirement System $500 million in the hole.
What else…
Larry Fink is considered to be the “most powerful man in the post-bailout economy.” In political circles, he is the most important name in finance, yet Fink and his BlackRock company have barely registered acknowledgement in the public arena. Now 63, Fink still maintains his stronghold. BlackRock contracts span the world. His achievements, though questionable, are remarkable – spectacular even. BlackRock is a corporation that is now “too big to fail.” But its size leaves more questions – the almost “shadow government,” one senior banking executive told Vanity Fair in an interview, raises more questions than answers.
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