Blackrock CEO Larry Fink says he is no longer on board with ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance principles). Ironic, considering he’s one of the movement’s founders.
In February 2021, NLPC’s Paul Chesser, Director of the Corporate Integrity Project, pointed out the threat posed by Blackrock’s emphasis on “stakeholder capitalism:”
Larry Fink’s letter to CEOs, released in late January, is so 2021 – demanding fealty to a progressive agenda under threat of being ostracized and/or canceled.
Since 2018, the BlackRock chairman’s missive has become an eagerly anticipated annual pontification for Wall Street elitists and political progressives. The lifelong Democrat – who once received a “corporate citizenship” award named for Democrat racist President Woodrow Wilson – now has a new Democrat U.S. President installed that he can work with. Indeed, BlackRock alumni are populating the economic team within the Biden administration.
As the president and his allies in the newly Democrat-controlled Congress eagerly start to impose their new power on the corporate world – the stoppage of the Keystone XL pipeline construction is just the first job-killing step – they will need allies to coerce compliance under threat of economic pain.
BlackRock has since taken heat for its ESG stance, even catching the attention of GOP lawmakers. Feeling the heat, Fink told Fox Business earlier this week that ESG has become toxic:
Fink went on to say many BlackRock investments include what he called interests involved in ‘traditional’ energy and power, adding that it is important to balance both those and renewable sources in BlackRock’s portfolio.
He pointed to Texas as an example of how both can work together, saying the Lone Star State leads the nation in both renewable and fossil fuel energy production.
On Fox Business, Fink said ESG as a term has been “weaponized by the far left and weaponized by the far right. And we lose the conversation.”
Instead, BlackRock will focus on “conscientious capitalism,” merely a rebranded form of ESG.
Fink’s capitulation is proof that shareholder advocacy, like that practiced by NLPC’s Corporate Integrity Project, works.
