A potential successor to BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink is reported to be leaving, narrowing the list of contenders to become the next boss of the world's largest fund manager.
According to the Financial Times, Mark Widman, BlackRock’s head of global client businesses and a member of the company’s global executive committee, has chosen to pursue opportunities outside the company.
For years, investors have wondered when Fink, 72, would step down. He co-founded the company in 1988 and built it into a financial powerhouse with $11 trillion in assets under management.
Widman is considered one of the possible contenders to succeed Fink, along with Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein, Chief Financial Officer Martin Small and BlackRock International Rachel Lord, principal of BlackRock International.
Another recent high-profile exit as a potential successor to Fink is Salim Ramji, now chief executive of BlackRock rival Vanguard Group.
The Financial Times report on Vindman's departure comes ahead of BlackRock's fourth-quarter 2024 earnings on Wednesday morning.
BlackRock wasn't the only Wall Street giant sparking new succession drama on Tuesday.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) named Jennifer Piepszak as chief operating officer on Tuesday as part of a new management shakeup, but the largest U.S. bank said Piepszak did not want to replace Jamie Day Jamie Dimon serves as CEO.
This personnel change adds new uncertainty to the competition to succeed 68-year-old Dimon. Dimon is the longest-serving major bank CEO and the only one calling the shots during the 2008 financial crisis.
Deadline: January 15, 4:00:02 pm ET
black JPMorgan Chase
Pipzak was previously considered one of the frontrunners to eventually land Dimon's job.
At BlackRock, Vindman oversaw fund managers' efforts to assist governments and financial institutions with troubled assets during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Wiedman also led BlackRock's iShares ETF business, which grew from $500 billion in assets under management to $1.7 trillion.
His exit comes as the fund manager moves further into alternative assets with three recent acquisitions.
In December it made a $12 billion bet on HPS Investment Partners, a firm run by three former employees of Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) that specializes in lending to riskier companies.
In early 2024, it agreed to acquire London-based data provider Preqin for $3.2 billion and private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12.5 billion.
The acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners, which closed in October, is a bet on growing demand for new energy, transportation and digital infrastructure projects in the coming years.