The writer, founder of education non-profit Rumie, is a former chief investment officer for sustainable investing at BlackRock
The annual letter written by Larry Fink, chief executive of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, to the CEOs of America’s biggest corporations is always closely scrutinised. This year’s missive, published in January, was no exception.
Fink continued a theme he’d broached before, arguing for what he calls “stakeholder capitalism” as the best way of tackling pressing societal challenges, including climate change. This is a rejection of Milton Friedman’s argument that businesses should prioritise profits for shareholders above all else.