Company History & Government Roots
Trace how this company developed and how its relationship with government, public funding, federal research, contracts, acquisitions, and political institutions evolved over time.
1988
BlackRock president Rob Kapito co-founded the company in 1988 and assumed his current corporate leadership title in 2007. 62
1988
BlackRock was founded in 1988 and went public in 1999, using its proprietary risk management technology Aladdin to attract investors. By the end of 1999, BlackRock was overseeing more than $165 billion in assets. 8
2012
One of BlackRock’s most impactful technology and investment developments was the purchase of iShares from Barclay’s in 2012. 16 The program manages exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, which have lower investor costs, tax advantages, and overall greater investment gain than conventional mutual funds. 8 17 iShares ETFs helped BlackRock exceed $7 trillion in assets under management in 2019 and drove investor confidence in the company’s stock at the beginning of 2020. 18
April 15, 2020
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: 3
2020
BlackRock’s dedication to ESG principles hasn’t protected it from criticism on the U.S. political left. The company renamed its impact funds to ESG in 2020 after being criticized for having investments in tobacco and oil. 48 48
May 2020
Its major clients have included, but are not limited to, the Bank of Ireland, AIG, the Bank of Greece, and UBS. The company regularly partners with international corporations like Google and Morgan Stanley. 13 In the firm’s 2019 annual report CEO Larry Fink stated BlackRock would be heavily investing in China because of trillions of dollars in potential assets to be managed. 14
2024
FEC filings 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. 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. 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).
2025
The Net Zero Asset Managers was an initiative of corporations and their heads to commit to programs that would work towards the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In addition, the company announced the reversal of several ESG policies and proposals it had previously enacted. In addition, according to a March 2025 story by the Wall Street Journal, the company s February 2025 annual report had all mentions of DEI removed while the company later announcing it would end aspirational workforce representation goals due to “[s]ignificant changes to the U.S. legal and policy environment.” 40
Editorial standard
Government connection does not by itself establish corruption, control, favoritism, or causation. Timeline descriptions distinguish government founding, research support, customers, contracts, regulation, acquisitions, and personnel movement, and link the underlying evidence.