BlackRock’s results from the first quarter were better than estimated, despite a general downturn in investments in low-fee exchange-traded funds. BlackRock’s revenue rose 16% from the same time period last year. Roughly half of Fink’s net worth comes from his stake in BlackRock, which is valued at $570 million. His salary in 2017 was $27.7 million. With the excellent first quarter results fueling a surge in BlackRock stock, this pushes Larry Fink’s personal net worth over $1 billion. Fink started his career at Stephen A. Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group. Blackstone offers high-fee investments in private equity funds. Fink added a bond shop to Blackstone before departing to found BlackRock in 1988. Originally a part of Blackstone, the two firms parted ways in 1994. Blackstone manages $434 billion in assets in comparison to BlackRock’s $6.3 trillion. Schwarzman has a net worth of $11.4 billion. Fink’s personal net worth has grown more slowly because he owns only .7% of BlackRock. Instead of taking a huge ownership stake, Fink spread ownership among his employees. As a result, he has retained five of eight original management team members. BlackRock IPO’d in 1999 and since that time its share price has returned more than 3,600%. Blackstone’s shares have not changed significantly since its 2007 IPO. Does Schwarzman have regrets about letting BlackRock break away from Blackstone? He once called it a heroic mistake.
