Interview - BlackRock: What’s Real, What’s Rumor, and What It Means for You

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Mosheh Oinounou (1:08)

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the MoNews podcast. It's Moshe Oinounou here. Today, we're talking about a company you have probably heard of, but might have a hard time explaining, BlackRock. It is the world's largest money manager, overseeing over $15 trillion on behalf of its clients. Many of you listening may have money invested with BlackRock through your 401k, your pension, other investments, whether you realize it or not. What does it actually do with our money? How much power does that give one company over the US economy, the global economy, and our lives? If you spent some time online, I know you all have, you've probably seen a variety of claims about BlackRock, what it owns, what it controls, and things that we will demystify today and tell you what is true and what isn't. We wanted to sort through those claims, ask about legitimate concerns, and better understand how this business affects you.

I went recently over to BlackRock's New York headquarters to sit down with John Kelly, its global head of corporate affairs. Before BlackRock, John held senior roles at Microsoft, at Starbucks, at Roku. Now he's helping the financial giant at a time when trust in big institutions is in short supply. We discussed BlackRock's influence, its role in the housing market, and what it has nothing to do with in the housing market, and where your retirement savings fit into the bigger picture. We also dive into AI, the backlash against data centers, and why BlackRock is investing in training for electricians, plumbers and other skilled workers. They have a new initiative that we dive into in this conversation. As technology changes the job market, could some of the biggest opportunities be in careers that don't require a four-year degree? And how is BlackRock helping us get there? So with all that said, here is my conversation with John Kelly over at BlackRock headquarters in New York City.

John, great chatting.

John Kelly (2:47)

Hey, great to meet you.

Mosheh Oinounou (2:47)

Good to be in your home here at BlackRock.

John Kelly (2:49)

Welcome.

Mosheh Oinounou (2:50)

A lot to get to, including the investment you guys are making in the skilled workforce here in the US.

Also, just generally, what is BlackRock? Misconceptions, AI, and we speak in a week where there's a lot of headlines about the future of humanity in AI, and your role in that. So I want to get to all of that, but I really want to begin, and it's a conversation you and I have had about demystifying BlackRock.

John Kelly (3:14)

Right.

Mosheh Oinounou (3:16)

Because there's a lot out there on the Internet, if you will, about BlackRock. So just wanted to get at the larger questions people have, and for that, we went to Google.

John Kelly (3:27)

Okay.

Mosheh Oinounou (3:28)

I went to the 10 most Google questions about BlackRock.

John Kelly (3:30)

Yeah, we've done that.

Mosheh Oinounou (3:31)

Yeah, I imagine you guys are looking at that as well.

So I want to begin big picture here, and then we'll send a deep dive into a variety of subjects. First, talk to me about BlackRock because the headline is BlackRock Manages $15 Trillion. What does that mean? What does BlackRock do?

John Kelly (3:46)

Well, thank you for being here. And I love the opportunity to kind of address a lot of myths and misperceptions, but I mean, it starts with the fact that we are actually, as an asset manager, we're not a bank. So we're confused often with a bank.