A company so powerful, so rich that they hold more assets than the GDP of every single country on planet except for two. A company that is the prime money contributor in fossil fuel and forest destruction industries.
This company is complete definition of "Ownership of Planet". A company with a net worth of $9.3 Trillion, and not even a whisper can be heard about it, why??The scary fact is this company does exist, Say hello to BlackRock.
BlackRock is the largest Asset Management Company (AMC) on the planet they have ownership of companies, properties and ton of other assets, both tangible and Intangible.They own everything, when I write everything I mean "EVERYTHING".
BlackRock was born in the late 1980s, as a subsidiary of The Blackstone Group, a multinational private equity firm. Larry Fink was made director and CEO.BlackRock went public in 1999 at $14 a shareon the New York Stock Exchange. By the end of 1999, BlackRock was managing $165 billion in assets.BlackRock grew both organically and by acquisition.
BlackRock merged with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) in 2006. The U.S. government contracted with BlackRock to help resolve the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis, according to Vanity Fair, the financial establishment in Washington and on Wall Street believed BlackRock was the best choice for the job. In 2009, BlackRock first became the No. 1 asset manager worldwide.
1.The Banking and Finance industry.
BlackRock is either largest or one of largest shareholders in the behemoths of American banking industry namely.
Every American in connected to any one of these bank either directly or indirectly, no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try you cannot avoid BlackRock if you have a bank account in us.
In 2008 the collapse of the Lehman Brothers boosted BlackRock's business. Fink and his managers were known specialists in analyzing portfolios of mortgage backed securities. This came in handy at a moment when investors and bankers were trying their best to do damage-control. In no time, the team, working out of a backroom office, became known as the "Ghostbusters of Wall Street".
Out of America don't feel safe already, whether it's producing cars in Germany, mining for iron ore in South America, developing new drugs in the US or gold-mining in Africa - BlackRock's funds profit. BlackRock has
Many of largest insurance companies in world like, AIG, Prudential, MedLife, Allianz, etc are either owned in part by BlackRock or they have their asset get invested by them.
BlackRock's vast web of influence and interests varies from its shares in German companies to its role in the Greek debt crisis. However, my goalis not to point fingers, but to give the public the opportunity to understand. For Buchter, BlackRock serves as an example of how the financial industry at large works.
2.Real Estate and Information Technology.
There are reports that BlackRock is offering up to 50% higher than the asking price to get their hands on any Commercial or Residential real estate in United States. This escalates the driving forces behind the price mechanism, individuals get homes out of their budget and opt to finance from banks, and again BlackRock have it’s profit sharing in banks. This creates a loop for money circulation.
Remember financial crisis of 2008, besides Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs was one of the major causes both of these banks have a considerable level of influence on their management decisions can be improvised. Not to forget direct control on Liquidity by controlling the amount of asset flow in market.
The AMCs like BlackRock and Vanguard have holdings in companies that control 90% of US media landscape, from Warner Brothers to New York Times. BlackRock is not only limited to conventional media they are also owners in various social media platforms like, Alphabet (Google), Facebook (Meta), Microsoft, and others. They controls the media flow to the very last extent, that is the very reason you can have every news on Tesla, Facebook, Google, Amazon, but not a string to pull on BlackRock.
They have direct control over what info. goes out and what not, not long ago VOX published a article that the abnormal risein housing prices in America has nothing to do with Wall Street, besides the fact that BlackRock and other AMCs are purchasing real estate at inflated prices at open market operations, triggering artificial inflation in process. It is worth mentioning VOX media received majority of their funding from Goldman Sachs which again makes it dependent on Blackrock.
Such power and influence, often at odds with the public media outlets and combined with potential hazards for the overall financial system, demands additional scrutiny.
3. Vicious circle of Ownership.
Not only BlackRock have holdings in banks and companies but these organization holds shares of BlackRock as well either directly or through association, so in way Blackrock owns itself, these investment tactics falls under 'Circular Ownership'.
The circular ownership is increasingly seen by businesses, thought-leaders, and policymakers as a way of delivering long term growth to investors while helping address climate change and other global challenges. The circular ownership can be used as an investment portfolio de-risking by investors and financial institutions, and as a way to drive better risk-adjusted performance.
BlackRock has sent a strong signal to other investors and companies that the transition to a circular ownership is happening, and investing in the circular ownership not only contributes to a more resilient and regenerative society, but offers the opportunity to generate better financial and competitive returns.
4. Contributions to global warming.
Report shows that BlackRock owns more oil, gas, and thermal coal reserves than any other investor with total reserves amounting to 9.5 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions – or 30 percent of total energy-related emissions from 2017.BlackRock is the world’s largest investor in coal plant developers, holding shares worth $11 billion among 56 coal plant developers.
BlackRock is the "biggest driver of climate destruction on the planet", due in part to its refusal to divest from fossil fuel companies. On January 10th, 2020 a group of climate activists rushed inside the Paris offices of Black Rock France painting walls and floors with warnings and accusations on the responsibility of the company in the current climate and social crises.
On January 14, 2020, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink declared that environmental sustainability would be a key goal for investment decisions. BlackRock announced that it would sell $500 million worth of coal-related assets, and create funds that would avoid fossil-fuel stocks, two moves that would drastically shift the company's investment policy.
5.Conclusion.
It is not only BlackRock other asset management companies like Blackstone, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investment and others are also just as worrying toward the state of world. Companies with this much power single handedly sway the economic future ofthe world and of generations to come.
So what we do now? pretty much nothing. Companies like BlackRock are collateral to economic development. Removing companies like BlackRock from Financial scenario is like removing Tigers from the food chain, the Economic Functions are interdependent on each other for smooth operation of planet's economy, AMCs represents one of these functions. No matter how big they grow they are allowed to exist because they hold their importance.
BlackRock is neither the first nor the last to accumulate such amount of wealth, in past organizations like Dutch East India Company ( $8.28 trillion),Mississippi Company($6.8 trillion), South Sea Company($4.5 trillion), and others were performing the same task. BlackRock is just a evolved version of these.
The whole fiasco of economic growth gave rise to such organizations, with time being passed BlackRock will dilute and some other organization will take it's place. There was, There is, and There will be a BlackRock. Name might change but there will be a BlackRock..................
