I never spent much time dealing with or even thinking about BlackRock. As an endowment CIO, Godzilla-sized index managers are the opposite of the type we would ever consider. Sure, we used some of their ETFs but I never got to know any of their people or take a closer look. The only thing I knew about them was that the size of their assets under management seemed to grow by a trillion every few years (or is it months). But the bombshell report on BlackRock in Institutional Investor today, At BlackRock, New Accusations of Discrimination and Harassment Are Met With Contrition, definitely got my attention.
On Wall Street, what is BlackRock most famous for? One thing. Larry Fink’s finger-wagging schoolmarm-ish holier than thou lectures to the world’s CEOs about how they need to start doing good for the world and get serious about climate change and a host of other issues. Or else! Fink’s sermon’s come complete with a nasty threat. As the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock has immense power. By adding or removing a stock from one of their indices, they can add or subtract billions from the company’s market capitalization. So Fink is like half-priest and half-mafia don.
Of course, whenever one lectures a person, one is implying that they themselves are in some sense virtuous and a worthy messenger for moral instruction. After all, Donald Trump does not lecture people about sexual harassment. So when Larry goes around issuing directives and edicts and “you better do this by such and such date”, that’s all very good unless… the messenger has some serious flaws of his own. It turns out, according to multiple credible reports, that BlackRock is the poster child for Wall Street macho Neanderthal bro culture and all it’s racist and sexist (and who knows what else-ist) manifestations. And it goes right up to the top, to Father Fink (suddenly apropos) who has been accused of being “King Bro”. This makes sense. Culture comes from the top. Larry hired or promoted the senior people who are now accused of locker room/barnyard banter and much worse. As a way of doing business. You know, because infantile sexist humor is so great for bonding. Bonding by middle-aged white men largely ignorant of anything but finance.
So… Larry… you need to shut up now, dude. We don’t want to hear your visions for a green planet or how BlackRock “eats it’s own cooking” or stakeholder capitalism or any of your visions for a more perfect world. Because you and your firm and your brand and your senior team now have a big black indelible stain. Go work on your stain Larry (ask Leon for tips), the world will be okay without your help.
At BlackRock, New Accusations of Discrimination and Harassment Are Met With Contrition
Inappropriate questions, sexual harassment, racial discrimination: The world’s largest asset manager confronts an ugly past.
n February 1, Essma Bengabsia hit Publish. Her article, called “#MeToo at Blackrock,” went live moments later. An Arab-American Muslim woman, Bengabsia wrote that she was “sexually harassed and discriminated against on the grounds of my race, religion, and gender at BlackRock,” where she worked for nearly a year.
She quit her job as an analyst in the firm’s credit product strategy group after a human resources investigation into her claims yielded little action: a recommendation of counseling for one of her colleagues, diversity training for others. More than a year passed, and then Bengabsia went public.
BlackRock has in the meantime positioned itself as a leader of diversity initiatives in an industry fraught with racism and sexism. But some alums say their experiences at the firm did not live up to its public promises.
As part of a nine-month investigation, Institutional Investor spoke with 12 current and former employees, including Bengabsia, about their experiences at BlackRock.
They describe sexual harassment, from being asked what kind of pornography they prefer to being propositioned by their bosses. Black and Latinx employees say they were labeled as aggressive and unenthusiastic about their work. Some feel that they were given poor performance evaluations based on these perceptions.
“BlackRock is committed to building a diverse firm and an inclusive culture,” a spokesperson for the company says via email. “There are episodes recounted in this story that are appalling, and behavior of that kind should never take place at BlackRock.”