For the moment, one of the kingpins of corporate wokeism, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, has retreated from part of his leftist rhetoric, largely because of the opposition of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state CFO Jimmy Patronis.
Fink said he will no longer use the term ESG, which stands for “environment, social and governance,” because of the way it has been “weaponized” by both sides of the political spectrum.
As Axios reported, Fink told an audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival that efforts by DeSantis and other GOP leaders in Tallahassee to yank $2 billion in assets from his company last year did hurt his firm.
Still, Fink also claimed last year was his company’s best ever.
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But Florida’s hardball position had an impact. According to Axios, Fink told the Aspen crowd, “I’m ashamed of being part of this conversation.”
“When I write these [investment] letters, it was never meant to be a political statement,” he added. “They were written to identify long-term issues to our long-term investors.”
The “letters” he referred to are the annual pronouncements of what Fink and BlackRock, a company managing a $9 trillion portfolio, envision as the most important topics of concern.
As Axios noted, Fink’s missals are “a signal for how the financial community is thinking about certain topics, and how policy makers may need to respond.”
And they typically respond by moving to the left, as Fink desires. Thus, his letters have helped drive the ESG agenda, particularly pushing companies to the left on climate change.
Yet DeSantis and Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said no last December.
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They announced that Florida would no longer deal with BlackRock and pulled the state’s $2 billion investment.
In a statement at the time, Patronis said, “I need partners within the financial services industry who are as committed to the bottom line as we are – and I don’t trust BlackRock’s ability to deliver.”
“BlackRock CEO Larry Fink is on a campaign to change the world. … Whether stakeholder capitalism, or ESG standards, are being pushed by BlackRock for ideological reasons, or to develop social credit ratings, the effect is to avoid dealing with the messiness of democracy. I think it’s undemocratic of major asset managers to use their power to influence societal outcomes.”
“If Larry, or his friends on Wall Street, want to change the world – run for office. Start a non-profit. Donate to the causes you care about,” Patronis continued. ““Using our cash, however, to fund BlackRock’s social-engineering project isn’t something Florida ever signed up for.”
Axios reported that Fink tried to backtrack and say that he never used the term “ashamed,” which Axios said was wrong.
But while he promised to drop the term ESG, his worldview likely has not changed, and his campaign may grow more stealth.
As he told Axios, “I do believe in conscientious capitalism.”
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