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BlackRock’s top executive, Mark Widman, is leaving, a move that would derail plans to let go of the asset manager’s founder, Larry Fink, according to four people close to the company.
Wideman has been widely discussed as a possible successor. Fink He was one of the most recognizable public faces of the $11.5tn asset manager’s client business for more than a decade.
BlackrockThe board filed him as a supervisor last year because he was given a special retention package.
However, Widman, who led the integration and rapid growth of BlackRock’s flagship index and exchange-traded fund business, chose not to stick around. His departure is expected to be announced soon, the people said. He is forfeiting $8 million in stock options, according to the proxy.
Widmann’s departure comes after the world’s largest asset manager launched a $28 billion acquisition spree last year to increase its footprint in the fast-growing and lucrative alternative assets sector. The strategic move by Fink, 72, not only allowed him to personally control his success, but also brought in a group of executives who were high-powered and highly paid and needed to be carefully managed.
Fink, who has led BlackRock since its founding in 1988, is one of the most popular among investors and one of the most influential people in finance. But analysts and some in the organization They have started voicing their concerns. Whether the slow pace of succession planning will cause the next generation of top talent to start moving elsewhere. Black Rock President Rob Capito, 67, is the company’s founder.
BlackRock declined to comment.
Widmann will leave nearly a year after Salim Ramji, another executive considered to be the helm at some point. Ramji became CEO of Vanguard, BlackRock’s main rival in the US and the world’s second largest asset manager. Other junior executives have left for leadership roles at smaller firms in the past few years, including Daniel Gamba to Northern Trust and Zach Buchwald to Russell Investments.
After Ramji left, the group called on Widman and two other executives who received special option grants: Chief Executive Officer Robert Goldstein and Chief Financial Officer Martin Small.
“BlackRock is proud to have a record of our company’s alumni, leading several investment management companies and financial institutions,” he said earlier.
“Larry (Fink) and Rob (Capito) are not going anywhere,” said a senior Wall Street official with knowledge of the situation. They made a big acquisition and you have to look at that, (but) Widmann is too old to be a CEO if he doesn’t make a move.
A lawyer by training, Widman joined BlackRock in 2004 after stints at the US Treasury and McKinsey. He launched BlackRock’s financial markets consulting arm, which helps central banks and government agencies dig through the wreckage of the 2008 financial crisis.
Widman in 2010 In 2009, he negotiated the acquisition and merger of Barclays Global Investors, a deal widely seen as the most important in BlackRock’s history. He then led the acquired iShares business from 2011 to 2019 as it grew into a juggernaut in index and ETFs.
Keen to develop talent, Widman has hired or promoted several of BlackRock’s top executives, including Small and Rachel Lord, who heads the global business.
