![]() “Purpose” is happening, whether we like it or notĪs a corporate responsibility practitioner, I tend to roll my eyes when I hear the term “purpose.” A 2017 survey indicated that although businesses are highly enthusiastic about it, there is no consensus as to what “purpose” actually means. So the reaction to the hoax letter proves two things: Responsible investment possibilities are expanding at an accelerating rate, and the debate over the future of corporate responsibility is now sufficiently mainstream to spawn its own fake news. Nonetheless, publications including the Financial Times were fooled by an idea that they would have deemed utterly implausible coming from BlackRock just five years ago. ![]() It is hard to overstate how significant such a move would be for companies and for the environment as Fink subsequently showed, BlackRock is not ready to put its money where its mouth is to such an extent. Here are our four main takeaways: It’s such a big deal that it spawned a hoax-which people fell forĪn activist group called the Yes Men released a spoof letter the day prior to the publication of the official document, saying that BlackRock would begin treating companies that do not adhere to the Paris Climate Agreement as “sin stocks”-like purveyors of tobacco and weapons. Its advice to business reflects sustainability best practice and is fantastic news for anyone with concerns about today’s social disruption and environmental destruction. This year’s highly anticipated letter from Fink appeared on January 17, reiterating and expanding upon many of his 2018 points. Suddenly, every business meeting I attended featured a conversation about the implications of the “Larry Fink letter.” The mainstream business press is still debating the questions Fink raised. In it, Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest investment firm, made the bold declaration that “to prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.” A direct riposte to Milton Friedman’s 1970 argument that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits,” Fink’s statement rapidly appeared in thousands of articles and PowerPoint slides. “For as he accumulates the real power of dictatorship, he also collects the responsibility, and the dangers.Last year, Larry Fink’s annual letter to CEOs forged its way into public and corporate consciousness. “Larry, though, may wish to take a care as he seeks to set a crown upon his head,” Scott continues. “Surely he is aware by now that forcing the West into climate-catastrophist decarbonization guarantees is already creating a pointless, but world-historical, disaster,” Scott adds. The column details how the BlackRock CEO’s increasing influence on markets, and by extension, geopolitics, has emboldened his already brazen activism. ![]() publicly traded corporations, the truth invariably outs, as when he accidentally admitted that he is acting to “ force” corporations, and through them all of us worldwide, to do his bidding.” While he occasionally makes transparently false statements about the nonpartisan character of his interference with the governance and planning at the rest of U.S. In Blog, Featured, Free Enterprise Projectįree Enterprise Project Director Scott Shepard writes in his latest commentary for Real Clear Markets: “One might think Fink would be more careful, given that he carries a raft of fiduciary duties to investors and shareholders… But no. ![]()
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