BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says Americans are dramatically underprepared for retirement - and the numbers paint a grim picture. In his 2025 annual shareholder letter, Fink, 73, told Americans they "haven't saved enough to retire comfortably." BlackRock manages about $14 trillion in assets, more than half of which are for retirement.
In the latest sign of the rapid convergence of Wall Street and crypto, the world's biggest asset manager is moving into decentralized finance or DeFi. BlackRock on Wednesday revealed it will be bringing its Treasury-backed digital token BUIDL onto Uniswap, a leading DeFi platform, where it will be bought and sold by institutional traders. As part of the tie-up, BlackRock is also purchasing an undisclosed amount of Uniswap's own UNI token.
Sometime in the early 1970s, a young Rick Rieder sat in his elementary school cafeteria, not eating. Instead, he stared at his lunch money-a quarter-and weighed the probability of an Oakland Raiders victory. He would obsess over microdata, like how the football team played on turf versus grass, searching for a marginal edge that would turn his 25 cents into 50. Then, he'd bet. When he lost, he went hungry, he told podcaster and author William Green.
They became members of BlackRock's Tech Fellows program, a group of 24 senior technologists playing a crucial role in the$13.5 trillion firm's vision and operations. This year's members underwent a rigorous application process - from being nominated to completing written evaluations and interviews - before being voted into the program by current fellows, Nish Ajitsaria, BlackRock's co-head of Aladdin product engineering and executive sponsor of AI, and the co-executive sponsor of the program, said.
A critical turning point in this development occurred in October when Minnesota state regulators greenlit the acquisition of Allete by asset management behemoth BlackRock - set to become Allete's majority stakeholder - and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Allete owns Minnesota Power, the main electric utility in northern Minnesota. The approval came against significant community opposition and, as Truthout previously reported, an administrative law judge's report that strongly recommended against the deal.
