Full Disclosure:​

BlackRock’s ESG backlash​

By Jaysen Sutton​

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The Story

In 2023, BlackRock paid over $500,000 on home security systems and over $200,000 on bodyguards to protect its CEO Larry Fink. The increase in spending comes amid a US backlash against its commitment to ESG.

What you need to know for your interviews

In 2020, Larry Fink made a bold decision to place sustainability at the core of BlackRock’s investment approach. Given the asset manager’s scale, this had ripple effects, pushing company executives to consider sustainability and net zero targets.

But the asset manager has since been on the receiving end of anti-ESG backlash in the US. BlackRock was sued by Tennessee, listed on Texas’s boycott list and criticised by Republican senators for 'woke capitalism’.

What does this mean for law firms?

Ropes & Gray has written about the careful balance that asset managers must strike, given the increasing complexity of rules. On one hand, 18 US states now have some kind of anti-US legislation. On the other hand, regulators have cracked down on ‘greenwashing’, where companies are accused of overstating their ESG pledges.


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