A conservative group known for targeting “woke capitalism” has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign attacking BlackRock and its CEO Larry Fink for “weaponizing” retirement funds with its push for more ESG investments, which promote environmental, social and governance responsibility. Why it matters: The campaign by Consumers’ Research aligns with the posture of a growing faction of…
Category: blackrock
Larry Fink Is Wrong About the Impact of the Russian Invasion on Globalization
In his annual letter to shareholders, Blackrock’s Larry Fink says that the response of the business community to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine signals “an end to globalization.” He’s wrong. It’s just the opposite. He writes: The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to the globalization we have experienced over the last three decades….
Response to Larry Fink on Blackrock’s Stakeholder Rhetoric
On Project Syndicate, Mariana Mazzucato responds to Larry Fink’s annual letter, calling for a more rigorous and comprehensive understanding of stakeholders, including the government and employees. Why do drug prices not reflect the original public contribution (even when the government reserves “march-in” rights that require pharmaceutical companies to license their products)? Why are intellectual-property rights…
ALEC Is Driving Laws to Blacklist Companies That Boycott the Oil Industry | The Nation
As we have said many times before, corporate executives love to extol the purity of the free market until they do not like the outcome. And fossil fuel companies would rather spend the shareholders’ money promoting climate change denial and interfering with market assessments of the inevitability of their decline than actually transitioning to a…
Larry Fink’s Annual 2022 Letter to CEOs | BlackRock
Blackrock CEO Larry Fink continues to call on the CEOs of its portfolio companies to engage and inspire stakeholders to create sustainable returns. That includes recognizing the profound and lasting changes in the world of work and what employees need to be productive and loyal. He expects them “to play a role in decarbonizing the…
Larry Fink: Moving from Ambition to Action on Climate Change
Blackrock CEO Larry Fink calls on shareholders to make sure their portfolio companies take action on climate change in a speech after the G20 at the International Conference on Climate, hosted by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Italy in Venice on Sunday, July 11. He emphasized the need to…
Agenda – BlackRock Whacks Boards on Compensation Changes
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager and one of many companies’ largest investors, has voted against compensation plans at several large companies this proxy season, including General Electric last week. The asset manager voted against 15% of compensation-related resolutions at its Americas-based portfolio companies that held annual meetings in the first quarter of this year….
Memo to Corporate Directors: Three Lessons from the Exxon-Mobil Activist Victory
Exxon-Mobil spent $35 million, added new directors, and made promises to do better, all in an effort to defeat the dissident slate nominated by activist fund Engine No. 1. It failed, and, at this writing, Exxon-Mobil has lost at least two seats on the board of directors and votes for two others were still being…
BlackRock’s Governance Mess – Public Accountability Initiative
Murry Gerber has served on BlackRock’s board of directors since 2000 – over two decades – and as its Lead Independent Director since 2017. Gerber has extensive ties to the fossil fuel industry. From 1998 to 2011, he helped oversee the Appalachian fracking boom through multiple executive positions with EQT Corporation, earning tens of millions…
Agenda – BlackRock Whacks Boards on Compensation Changes
lackRock, the world’s largest asset manager and one of many companies’ largest investors, has voted against compensation plans at several large companies this proxy season, including General Electric last week. The asset manager voted against 15% of compensation-related resolutions at its Americas-based portfolio companies that held annual meetings in the first quarter of this year….