The Real BlackRock Problem
Description
Conspiracist claims that BlackRock 'owns' corporations confuse asset management with beneficial ownership; BlackRock holds shares on behalf of clients, not for itself. However, the rise of passive investing has concentrated voting power among the Big Three (BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street), which together control about 20% of the average S&P 500 company. This concentration raises legitimate concerns about fiduciary accountability, especially when ESG proxy voting may diverge from beneficiary interests. Recent court rulings (e.g., Spence v. American Airlines) have found that plan fiduciaries breached their duty of loyalty by allowing BlackRock to pursue ESG objectives through proxy voting without proper oversight. In response, BlackRock has expanded its Voting Choice program to give more direct voting power to individual investors.
Sources & further reading (24)
- BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street hand proxy voting to everyday investors | Semaforhttps://www.semafor.com/article/09/11/2025/blackrock-vanguard-state-street-hand-proxy-voting-to-everyday-investors
- BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street: Examining the Asset ...https://sparkco.ai/blog/blackrock-vanguard-state-street-asset-concentration-oligopoly
- Decentralizing Voting Powerhttps://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2025/10/01/decentralizing-voting-power/
- Research & Commentary: Arizona Bill Would Protect Shareholders from ESG-Driven Proxy Advisor Recommendations - The Heartland Institutehttps://heartland.org/publications/research-commentary-arizona-bill-would-protect-shareholders-from-esg-driven-proxy-advisor-recommendations/
- Court Finds American Airlines Liable for Breach of Fiduciary Duty of Loyalty to its 401(k) Plans Because it Allowed BlackRock to Pursue ESG Objectives in its Proxy Voting - Trucker Husshttps://www.truckerhuss.com/newsletter/court-finds-american-airlines-liable-for-breach-of-fiduciary-duty-of-loyalty-to-its-401k-plans/
- BlackRock Active Investment Stewardshiphttps://www.ishares.com/us/literature/policies/bais-global-engagement-and-voting-guidelines.pdf
- A material focus: BlackRock refocuses its 2026 voting stance in a tumultuous proxy landscape | Governance Intelligencehttps://www.governance-intelligence.com/boardroom/material-focus-blackrock-refocuses-its-2026-voting-stance-tumultuous-proxy-landscape
- Who Owns BlackRock? List of Top 10 Shareholdershttps://admiralmarkets.com/education/articles/shares/largest-blackrock-shareholders
- Debunking claims that a 'cartel' of asset managers controls major U.S. corporationshttps://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/23/vanguard-blackrock-state-street-dont-own-major-us-corporations.html
- Who Owns Blackrock?https://www.companieshistory.com/who-owns-blackrock/
- Passive Aggressive: The Risks of Passive Investing Dominance by Chris Brightman, Campbell R. Harvey :: SSRNhttps://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5259427
- Law Working Paper N° 414/2018 August 2018 Jill Fischhttps://www.ecgi.global/sites/default/files/working_papers/documents/finalfischhamdanisolomon1.pdf
- BlackRock | Assets Under Management, History, & Influence | Britannica Moneyhttps://www.britannica.com/money/BlackRock-Inc
- BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street: The Big Three Explained | Institute of Business & Financehttps://icfs.com/specialists-desk/big-three-blackrock-vanguard-state-street
- Corporate Governance and Proxy Voting Guidelines for U.S. Securitieshttps://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/890196/000119312524231917/d881774dex99uscorpgov.htm
- Empowering investors through Voting Choice | BlackRockhttps://www.blackrock.com/corporate/about-us/investment-stewardship/blackrock-voting-choice
- Two ESG-Related District Court Rulingshttps://www.maynardnexsen.com/publication-two-esg-related-district-court-rulings
- BlackRock - Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackRock
- Proxy Voting: The Transformative Power of Choice | BlackRockhttps://www.blackrock.com/corporate/about-us/investment-stewardship/blackrock-voting-choice/proxy-voting-power-of-choice
- 1 BlackRock Voting Choice FAQs NM0724U-3678439-1/8https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/publication/voting-choice-faqs.pdf
- 2025 Global Voting Spotlight | BlackRockhttps://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/publication/2025-investment-stewardship-voting-spotlight.pdf
- Index Funds Have Too Much Voting Power: A Proposal for Reformhttps://manhattan.institute/article/index-funds-have-too-much-voting-power-a-proposal-for-reform
- The Proxy Voting Revolution: Will Shareholders Regain Control? | Duke's Fuqua School of Businesshttps://www.fuqua.duke.edu/duke-fuqua-insights/proxy-voting-revolution-will-shareholders-regain-control
- Your Money, Their Votes: What You Should Know About How Funds Should Vote Your Shareshttps://www.investopedia.com/how-funds-vote-your-shares-11728772
Script
Cold open
If BlackRock doesn't own the world, why do the conspiracy theories feel so close to something real?
Frame
Index funds have concentrated more voting power than any robber baron ever had—and when that power gets used for ESG goals, courts are calling it a breach of duty. The real question is who should control the votes that come with your retirement savings.
What does BlackRock actually own?
What does BlackRock actually own? BlackRock makes money by collecting fees from its investors, not by reaping profits from the companies it invests in—the people who own shares in BlackRock funds own the shares. But BlackRock's large stakes in many public companies have raised concerns about corporate governance and stewardship.
If BlackRock doesn't own the shares, who votes them?
If BlackRock doesn't own the shares, who votes them? BlackRock's Voting Choice program allows many index equity clients to direct proxy votes. BlackRock contracts with ISS and Glass Lewis for research, but the program gives eligible institutional clients the ability to vote their own proxies.
What happens when asset managers vote for ESG goals that beneficiaries might not support?
What happens when asset managers vote for ESG goals that beneficiaries might not support? In January 2025, a U.S. District Court ruled that American Airlines violated its duty of loyalty by letting BlackRock use retirement assets to advance ESG goals through proxy voting—finding an 'absence of any internal analysis and monitoring of BlackRock's proxy voting to pursue ESG.'
Does the Big Three's voting concentration distort markets and corporate governance?
Does the Big Three's voting concentration distort markets and corporate governance? BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street together control around 20% of the average S&P 500 company. Their votes shape board elections, executive pay, and ESG policies. Passive flows cause unrelated stocks to move together, increasing systemic risk—and common ownership across competitors raises unresolved antitrust questions.
Turn
Here's the fix no one's talking about: force index funds to pass through voting rights to investors by default. Opt out, don't opt in. Abstentions would dilute manager control without forcing anyone to vote.
Closer
So no, BlackRock doesn't own the world. But the votes that come with your retirement savings might be shaping it in ways you never agreed to. The real conspiracy might be that nobody asked you what you wanted.