Larry Fink is looking forward to the day he’s not CEO of BlackRock, but that’s not happening just yet.
Fink, the 72-year-old cofounder and the only CEO BlackRock has ever had, has long been answering questions about who will succeed him and Rob Kapito, the firm’s president, at the $11.5 trillion asset management behemoth.
“I look forward to the day when I’m not running it. I do not want to be somebody that’s staying on longer than needed,” Fink told the Economic Club of New York. The next generation team is in place, he said, but “they’re not ready yet.”
He said that the firm’s scale makes “the job harder” and that he “fundamentally believes” the team immediately below him and Kapito will take over in the future.
The group of executives likely to succeed Fink includes Rob Goldstein, the firm’s chief operating officer; Martin Small, the chief financial officer and global head of corporate strategy; Rachel Lord, the head of international, and Stephen Cohen, who was promoted to chief product officer last year.
This line-up had a shake-up earlier this year following the surprise exit of Mark Weidman, who along with Goldstein, had been seen as a top contender to replace Fink. Weidman joined Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial as its president on Monday. Last January, Salim Ramji, another executive considered a prospective successor, left and joined Vanguard as its chief executive in July.
Fink said he was proud of the BlackRock “diaspora,” which has seen firm leaders take up CEO posts at other asset managers.
Despite once opposing staying on as chairman — he said it would be a disaster in a 2017 interview — Fink said he’s now open to staying close to help but likely not for long.
Turning to New York City, Fink said he used to believe working and living in the city was an honor and that his taxes were being used to help it, but because of crime, filth, and the quality of services, he said he “doesn’t feel that way anymore.”
“You know you’re seeing more and more of your firm’s population are asking, ‘Can I move to other places?’ because they’re worried about the cost of housing here, the crime, the cost of education, all the things that are that are facing us.”
He said that BlackRock’s NYC employee base, with the exception of acquisitions, has not grown from around 4,000 in about 7 years.
He wants business leaders to “reclaim the glory of New York City.”
While he didn’t name a mayoral candidate he was looking to back in the upcoming November election, Fink said he was a fan of Richie Torres, a congressman representing the Bronx who has previously expressed interest in a gubernatorial run.
“He’s not running for mayor, but he is one of the key members of Congress representing the Bronx, who is really trying to make a difference.”
