BlackRock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| BlackRock Inc | |
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| Type | Public (NYSE: BLK) |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | New York, USA |
| Key people | Laurence D. Fink, CEO |
| Industry | Investment management |
| Products | Asset management |
| Revenue | US $4.845 billion (2007)[1] |
| Operating income | US $1.559 billion (2007)[1] |
| Employees | Approximately 6,000 |
| Website | www.blackrock.com |
BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) is a major American investment management firm. As of December 31, 2007, BlackRock’s assets under management totaled $1.357 trillion[1] across fixed income, liquidity, equity, alternative investment and real estate strategies.
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[edit] History
In 1988, BlackRock was founded as the Financial Management Group within the private equity firm Blackstone Group. Larry Fink, BlackRock’s founder and CEO, had joined Blackstone in 1988 as a partner, along with Ralph Schlosstein, former White House aide under the Carter administration, and Keith Anderson. Before joining Blackstone, Fink was a managing director at First Boston, where he pioneered the mortgage-backed securities market in the United States. In 1992, Fink, Schlosstein and Anderson separated from the Blackstone Group under the name BlackRock and aggressively re-invented it as an independent asset-management company. In 1995, PNC Financial Services Group purchased BlackRock and in 1999, assets under management had grown to $165 billion and the firm decided to go public.
Much of BlackRock's recent growth can be attributed to its acquisitions. On January 28, 2005, BlackRock purchased State Street Research Management, a mutual-fund business that had previously been owned by MetLife. This acquisition added a sizable equity business to BlackRock's funds, which had previously comprised mostly fixed-income securities. On September 29, 2006, BlackRock completed its merger with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), halving PNC's ownership and giving Merrill Lynch a 49-percent stake in the company. On June 26, 2007, BlackRock entered into an agreement to acquire the fund-of-funds business of Quellos Capital Management.[2]
Headquartered in New York City, BlackRock operates 35 offices in 18 countries, among them markets in the United Kingdom, Asia, Australia and Europe.
[edit] Key people
- Laurence D. Fink – Chairman & CEO
- Robert S. Kapito – Vice Chairman
- Charles Hallac – Head of BlackRock Solutions (Vice Chairman)
- Paul L. Audet – Acting CFO & Managing Director
[edit] Footnotes and References
[edit] External links
- BlackRock - official site
- Yahoo! - BlackRock Company Profile
- PNC Financial Services Group
