The Most Powerful Man on Wall Street!! Who is Larry Fink?!

He has been called the most powerful man On Wall Street a conciliary to Presidents and prime ministers and the Man at the Hub of the wheel of American Capitalism but who really is Larry Fink The balding the spectacled 70 year old Titan in charge of BlackRock the world's Largest asset manager with assets under Management or AUM valued at between 9 And 10 trillion dollars depending on who You ask BlackRock is a beast and Larry Holds its Reigns now let's quickly put Blackrock's assets into some context According to the Financial Times They Are quote roughly equivalent to the Entire Global hedge fund private equity And Venture Capital Industries combined In fact if BlackRock were a country it Would have the third largest economy in The World Behind only the US and China Its assets are almost double Japan's Entire gross domestic product yep black Rock is big unnervingly big And yet its head honcho isn't well known Outside of financial circles so this Video will explore who the so-called King of Wall Street is his rise to Prominence how he antagonized the Political right and left and why he's Just become one of the most important People in crypto But first a disclaimer as guy your Crypto guide I'm here to amuse but Please don't confuse my words for

Financial cues I offer knowledge insights and crypto Updates Galore but remember it's not Advice to invest and explore Cryptos are wild ride with risks you Must assess so research be informed and Make those decisions with finesse And now back to our scheduled Programming One of the defining moments of Larry Fink's life occurred in the second Quarter of 1986. by then he was already Riding High having become the youngest Member of the management committee at Investment Bank First Boston and had Developed an oversized ego as a result He was also a quote jerk as he later Said about those years well jerk or no Jerk Larry was a Golden Boy on track to Be CEO he could do no wrong until he did Quite spectacularly like Icarus Disregarding warnings not to fly too Close to the Sun Larry threw caution to The wind in Pursuit Of Glory He didn't fully grasp the risks of his Investments and his desk lost around 100 Million dollars a hefty sum even today But positively terrifying back in the 1980s he was cast out set aside and Within two years had left the firm now In a brilliant Vanity Fair article from 2010 which I urge you to read if you Want all the ins and outs the event was Described by contemporaries as quote one

Of the most spectacular and humiliating Flameouts on record public and really Awful even 22 years later when speaking To the magazine Larry was quote visibly Upset remembering the time gripping his Chair so tightly his knuckles are white That humiliating event would leave a Deep scar on Larry's psyche never again Would he overextend himself never again Would he recklessly take on so much risk Now a failure of such magnitude can Either be the breaking or the making of A person and for Larry it was the latter By then working for private Equity shop Blackstone Larry and a coachery of Loyalists secured a five million line of Credit and set up Blackstone financial Management bfm part owned by Blackstone And operating out of its New York Offices Larry's star was in the Ascendant and by 1993 bfm was managing More than 20 billion dollars a somewhat Amicable divorce from Blackstone that Year saw Larry establish a new firm Which as a homage he called BlackRock I See what you did there Larry very clever Under Larry's guidance BlackRock Transformed from a bond investment house Into the world's biggest money manager Newspaper profiles of Larry describe him As resolutely in control of and Single-mindedly obsessed with Blackrock's success with the scars from The 100 million dollar first Boston

Disaster still raw Larry invested in Technology to help manage risk with its Genesis in bfm his firm's commitment to Innovation and its determination to Manage risk led to the creation of the Asset liability debt and derivative Investment Network or Aladdin now Aladdin is undoubtedly blackrock's Crown Jewel from a simple dashboard that can Be expanded and collapsed at ease the Software can scrutinize risk across Thousands of complex Holdings in vanity Fair's words quote it is through Aladdin That BlackRock effectively has an Electronic eye on investments that Amount to about nine trillion dollars Worldwide In fact Aladdin is so effective that Around 200 institutions many of them Blackrock's competitors use it under License but back to the man who started It all Now the Larry we see today usually on Rare appearances on CNBC is a far cry From the long-haired turquoise bracelet Wearing upstart who graduated from UCLA With a degree in political science and An MBA and who promptly headed to Wall Street in 1976. his private Persona is Also a lot different to that which Appears on TV according to that same 2010 Vanity Fair article in public Appearances he appears soft-spoken using A tone that is quote authoritative and

Bland yet by his contemporaries he's Described as a master networker who is Quote very intense blunt psychologically Astute and with an edgy wit it's these Traits as well as this business Acumen That have allowed him to thrive in the Scrappy Hard Scrabble World of Wall Street and his networking prowess has Served him well not only on Wall Street But in the halls of power of Washington DC as well and it's a relationship that He relishes as I told Washington is a Phrase he's been known to trot out for BlackRock meanwhile it was the financial Crisis of 2008 that propelled it to Empire status with Larry of course as Supreme Commander as other Wall Street Juggernauts collapsed or teetered on the Brink of bankruptcy BlackRock was called In to clean up the mess and Controversially BlackRock was awarded Key contracts with no competitive Bidding some have argued that this was Chiefly because blackrock's great size And vast pool of expertise made it Uniquely positioned for the laborious But highly lucrative job many have Complained about what they saw as Preferential treatment pointing to Larry's close ties to senior government Officials including former treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his Successor Timothy Geithner one senior Bank executive in that vanity fairpiece

Described BlackRock as quote almost a Shadow government but if Larry and BlackRock were close to power back then They've only Consolidated that Relationship in the ensuing years Despite heavy criticism a revolving door Between BlackRock and Democratic Administrations has seen notable High-profile figures moving between the Two BlackRock alumni have pitched up at The treasury Department the National Economic committee and in top advisory Roles in the other direction officials From the Obama and Biden administrations Have since graduated to lucrative roles At BlackRock these ties and the Potential conflicts of interest they Imply are strongest with the Democrats The party Larry proudly supports but They exist with the Republican party too Got to manage risk after all in 2017 While in office Donald Trump said that Quote Larry did a great job for me he Managed a lot of my money and I have to Tell you he got me great returns well I'm sure Larry and BlackRock didn't do Too badly out of it either let's now Take a second to acknowledge blackrock's Influence beyond the vast Trove of Assets under management BlackRock is Quote one of the biggest shareholders in Virtually every major company in America And quite a few internationally as well As the financial times puts it in a 2019

Paper titled the Specter of the giant 3 Academics from Harvard and Boston found That combined the three largest index Fund managers BlackRock Vanguard and State Street had increased their average Ownership stakes in the 500 biggest Listed U.S companies from around 5 Percent event in 1998 to over 20 percent By 2019 and that Trend was continuing They estimated that quote The Big Three Could well cast as much as 40 percent of The votes in S P 500 companies within Two decades Now set aside your opinions Of these companies or the people who Comprise them and stay alert to Conspiracy theories that take this point Too far the very fact of power and Influence coalescing around so few and Those few getting ever more powerful Though should be alarming particularly When those empowered are unelected yet So close to those in government and Speaking of those in power Larry is long Believed to have had aspirations for the Top job at the U.S treasury those dreams Seemed to die in 2016 however when Hillary Clinton lost the U.S election to Donald Trump perhaps Donald wanted Larry To keep managing money for him and not The whole country but while Larry's Formal political Ambitions seemed to Have been cast aside his pursuit of Informal political influence seemed to Crystallize in January 2020 when he

Penned his eighth annual letter to CEOs In it Larry expressed his vision boldly Quote BlackRock does not see itself as a Passive observer in the low carbon Transition we believe we have a Significant responsibility as a provider Of index funds as a fiduciary and as a Member of society to play a constructive Role in the transition the following Year he took it a step further citing an Expectation for companies to disclose Plans for how their business models will Be compatible with a net zero economy by 2050. all summed up in three letters e s G environmental social and governance And investment ideology we've spoken About Ad nauseam on the channel in the Past now it's largely because of his ESG Stance that Larry used to operating in The shadows and not particularly well Known outside of financial circles has Been in the headlines in recent years he Has consistently maintained that his Emphasis on the SG is in the best Interests of his shareholders stating That climate change is a reality that Will impact bottom lines in the future If businesses don't respond Appropriately yet Larry's ESG Obsession Has come under Fire from many quarters And he seems to have been utterly Unprepared for the backlash he has faced As a result on the right accusations of Woke capitalism and damage to the oil

And gas industry have been leveled Against him opposition from Republicans In Texas and Florida has resulted in Billions of dollars of assets withdrawn From blackrock's fund attacks have been Loudest from the right yet many on the Left are dissatisfied too critics label Him as hypocritical arguing that BlackRock has not gone far enough in Divesting from oil and gas firms is Associating with weapons manufacturers And profiting from deforestation The Left-leaning Guardian newspaper went so Far as to label Larry a quote climate Villain and even blackrock's former Sustainability Chief Tarik fancy has Criticized the ESG Trend deeming it Quote marketing gobbledygook that Distracts from the real climate crisis Because of this mounting opposition Larry has been backtracking this year His 2023 letter to CEOs dropped the term ESG which he claims has been quote Weaponized by the far left and far right And he has stressed that Minority Shareholders do not have the authority To dictate company actions yet he Affirms his commitment to quote Conscientious capitalism which to many Including some of his supporters is Simply ESG by another name Caught between environmental activists Urging him to harness blackrock's Influence for greater climate action

Critics from the ideological right and Left a fiduciary responsibility to his Shareholders and his own ESG position Larry is in a somewhat unenviable spot As ESG conscientious capitalism the Climate crisis and the Quest for Decarbonisation become ever more a part Of the discourse Larry isn't likely to Fade from view anytime soon anyway now That we've covered those well relatively Insignificant topics of wealth power and The climate it's time for the big one When it comes to crypto Larry has pulled Off quite the 180. in 2017 the quote 10 Trillion dollar man called Bitcoin quote An index of money laundering now to be Fair he also said that he believed in Its potential but that it was at the Time quote much more of a speculative Platform phone he subsequently said that He saw no interest in crypto from his Clients but things change and boy can They change quickly when it comes to Crypto BlackRock made a few inroads into The crypto space in the Years following Larry's money laundering slur and he was Forced to acknowledge a growing interest In it among his clients BlackRock went On to announce a private trust to allow Bitcoin exposure for U.S institutional Clients partnered with coinbase for Client connectivity and pledged a 400 Million dollar funding for circles usdc Stablecoin fast forward to June 2023

Where amid an SEC Crackdown on both Binance and coinbase BlackRock came well And truly out of left field and applied For a spot Bitcoin ETF officially called The ishares Bitcoin trust now around 30 Comparable filings from other companies Have been rejected by the SEC this Though is the first time that BlackRock Has applied and based on its size and Extraordinary record the company has Secured 575 approvals versus one Rejection there is optimism that the SEC Might actually approve a spot Bitcoin ETF this time around if it does then This will be a big deal for Bitcoin as I've outlined in more detail in another Video link below now if you've watched That video you'll know that a spot Bitcoin ETF involves the direct Acquisition of BTC in the spot Market to Back the ETF shares if BlackRock obtains Approval for its spot ETF it will need To start accumulating BTC in theory this Should push the price up though it's Worth noting that BlackRock is likely to Accumulate its BTC over the counter in Direct trades behind the scenes with in Exchange that is it's unlikely to go out And buy it publicly on an exchange like Us plebs would over-the-counter trades Are favored by large investors and Institutions because they are less Likely to move the market so although BTC will likely pump if blackrock's

Application is approved it may not be as Huge a pump as many would have you Believe that said we've since witnessed A flurry of interest in crypto assets From traditional investors Three other asset management companies Have since followed BlackRock and filed Or refiled for spot Bitcoin ETFs Meanwhile Fidelity Citadel Charles Schwab Sequoia virtue financial and Paradigm have backed edx a recently Launched crypto exchange aimed at Institutions and NASDAQ also announced It's looking to launch its own crypto Custody platform so make no mistake this Surge of interest in crypto from tradfi And the resulting boost to the price of Bitcoin stem from blackrock's decision To file for an ETF and big decisions Like this from BlackRock have to come From the top thanks Larry and thank you Folks for watching we'll have to wait And see if blackrock's application is Approved and how it affects the markets In the meantime we'll be sure to keep You up to speed And if you enjoyed this video be sure to Smash the like button if you're thinking To yourself I want more where that came From then my friends you are in luck Subscribe to the channel and ping that Notification Bell to get exactly that You can also follow me on the usual Socials and get exclusive insights about

The crypto Market on The Daily by Joining my telegram Channel Curious about my personal crypto Portfolio well then subscribe to my Newsletter where my team and I will also Regale you with added crypto insights And if you're a bargain hunter check out The coin Bureau deals page where you can Get the best discounts on top crypto Wallets and enjoy up to forty thousand Dollars in bonus airdrops at leading Crypto exchanges I'll see you all next Time Thank you [Music]