After getting slapped with a cease and desist order from Mississippi's Secretary of State this week alleging fraud and "untrue statements" about investments and ESG, BlackRock got trolled by watchdog group Consumers' Research.
"BlackRock guilty of fraud?" asks a billboard placed by Consumers' Research this week — right outside BlackRock CEO Larry Fink's office in order to remind him "what happens when he plays politics with other people's money," according to the group's executive director Will Hild.
It's been a bad week for @BlackRock, made worse by Mississippi sending them a Cease & Desist over their continued ESG activism.
— Will Hild (@WillHild) March 28, 2024
So, we thought we'd put a billboard outside of CEO Larry Fink's office, reminding him of what happens when he plays politics with other people's money: https://t.co/xnUxgO9aOK pic.twitter.com/7ow2raRBAB
The billboard comes after the cease and desist order from Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson asserted that "many of BlackRock's acts, practices, and courses of business operate or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon investors and potential investors in Mississippi."
As Townhall reported this week, the specific issue is the way BlackRock markets and manages investments worth trillions of dollars in light of its embrace of, and stated commitment to, implementing ESG — environmental, social and governance — policies.
.@BlackRock has abused the savings of the American people, using their money to push a far-left agenda without their knowledge or permission.@MichaelWatsonMS deserves immense credit for defending the people of Mississippi from their deceptive behavior:https://t.co/1DGvfYQ3Cr
— Will Hild (@WillHild) March 28, 2024
For Townhall's reporting earlier this week, BlackRock provided a comment that explained its "only agenda is maximizing risk-adjusted returns for the funds our clients choose to invest in" and pointed Townhall to a "2030 Net Zero Statement" on its website that says BlackRock's role in a transition to "net zero" is "not to engineer a specific decarbonization outcome in the real economy."
However, as Townhall noted, BlackRock's comment and 2030 statement are contradicted by the Net Zero Asset Managers commitment to which BlackRock is a signatory. That commitment pledges BlackRock to working "in partnership with asset owner clients on decarbonisation[sic] goals, consistent with an ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner across all assets under management."
Just incredible reporting by @Townhallcom's @itsSpencerBrown getting @BlackRock to contradict themselves *on the record* about their goal to force the ESG agenda onto companies: https://t.co/slROmktLAM pic.twitter.com/YLGVBmvZmb
— Will Hild (@WillHild) March 27, 2024