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George Soros was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian award) by Joe Biden in a White House ceremony. It's no surprise that many are curious about the billionaire's investments, especially in major companies like BlackRock.
While George Soros is one of the most influential investors in the world, he does not own BlackRock. BlackRock is one of the world’s largest asset management firms and was founded by Larry Fink in 1988. Soros, on the other hand, is best known for founding Soros Fund Management.
According to a 2018 article by Reuters, Soros Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in various firms like Facebook Inc., Apple Inc., and Twitter Inc. during the quarter ending in June 2018, along with a significant increase in its shares of BlackRock. George Soros's firm raised its stake in BlackRock Inc. by almost 60 percent, bringing its total shares to 12,983 in the second quarter of 2018.
According to Stock Circle, George Soros has made 18 BlackRock Inc.-related trades, the first of which was made in 2009. However, between 2018 and 2020, Soros Fund Management sold its entire stake in BlackRock.
George Soros sharply criticized BlackRock Inc. in 2021
As part of an op-ed titled 'BlackRock’s China Blunder' that appeared in The Wall Street Journal on 6 September 2021, George Soros severely criticized BlackRock's move to expand its investment presence in China, deeming it a 'tragic blunder' that would threaten U.S. national security interests and those of other democracies.
Soros suggested that BlackRock's decision to broadly invest in China may be unintentionally supporting an authoritarian government (under Xi Jinping). He cautioned that such financial ties pose the risk of making the U.S. and other democracies susceptible to political and economic blackmail by Beijing.
Soros characterized BlackRock's gargantuan financial investment in China as a 'bad investment' and indicated it was unlikely to produce lasting returns for its clientele. He noted that the leadership of Xi Jinping and Beijing's stringent regulatory pressures on private enterprises have led to an opaque investment environment.
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After Soros's op-ed came out, BlackRock Inc. in statements to CNBC News, responded by arguing that its investments in China are not just about financial gains but are also part of a larger economic ecosystem that benefits both countries and contributes to global financial stability. They mentioned that The U.S. and China had a significant economic relationship, with trade exceeding $600 billion in 2020.
In another article published in the Financial Times, 'Investors in Xi's China face a rude awakening,' George Soros raised a red flag on China's economic policies under leader Xi Jinping.
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