Larry Fink at BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit | Cold Call

In 2014, Larry Fink started writing letters to the leaders of some of the largest publicly listed companies, urging them to consider the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

Fink is the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, one of the largest asset management houses in the world. The firm’s success was rooted in its cost-effective, passive investment products that rely on tracking indices and funds. But Fink wanted his firm to engage with the companies in which they invest and hold them accountable for their social and environmental impacts.

What role should investors play in urging business leaders to take ESG issues more seriously and enforcing compliance? Harvard Business School professor George Serafeim discusses the merits of Fink’s approach, the importance of corporate investments in ESG themes, and how to lead a company driven by purpose and profit in his case, “BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit,” (https://store.hbr.org/product/blackro...) and his new book Purpose and Profit: How Business Can Lift Up The World (https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Profit....

This episode originally aired on Cold Call on September 20, 2022.

You can also listen to this episode on HBR.org, and wherever you listen to podcasts:
- HBR.org (transcript available here): https://hbr.org/podcast/2022/09/larry...
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Series Description:
Harvard Business School’s legendary case studies, distilled into podcast form.

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Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
1:51 - Central Theme of the Case
4:13 – About Black Rock/Fink’s Letter
7:33 – CEOs’ Reactions to the Letter
9:37 – Goldilocks Dilemma
13:49 – ESG at Black Rock
21:24 – Where does purpose come from within an organization?
28:08 – Main Takeaway / Outro


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