(RightWing.org) – As worries about woke corporations grow, one name is coming up more and more often — BlackRock. The New York City-based investment company is one of America’s biggest fund managers, but it’s also a major player in the controversial Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) realm. In fact, some critics have pointed out that its own record in investing hasn’t scored very well for ESG, but many conservatives are deeply suspicious of BlackRock. Journalist James O’Keefe is one of the biggest skeptics.
BREAKING: @BlackRock Recruiter Who “Decides People’s Fate” Spills Info on Company’s World Impact
“It’s not who the president is- it’s who’s controlling the wallet of the president”
“You got $10K? You can buy a senator"
“War is real f***ing good for business” #BlackRockExposed pic.twitter.com/DZIy1DuZKF
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) June 20, 2023
On June 20, O’Keefe, a self-described “Guerilla journalist,” released a video showing an interview he’d carried out with Serge Varley, a BlackRock recruiter. During the interview, Varley told him the company controls so much money on the investment markets it can “run the world.” O’Keefe followed on from that, trying to find out as much as he could about the company’s activities — and also warned that BlackRock doesn’t like the world to know too much about what it’s doing.
Varley made clear that he’s not “a finance guy” but said he does know what happens. Some of what he had to say was chilling. For example, he explained that with that kind of money at its disposal, BlackRock can buy politicians. He told O’Keefe it doesn’t matter who the president is; the important thing is who controls the president’s wallets — and that’s the hedge funds, including BlackRock, and the banks.
Throughout the video, Varley was drinking wine, which might have helped him open up. He certainly seemed to have no inhibitions about explaining that politicians can be bought by simply funding their campaigns. He boasted that once a fund has made “a big f***ton of money,” it can get politicians in its pocket; a senator costs $10,000, he said.
The risks presented by BlackRock are widespread. Varley warned that the company runs the federal government’s economic simulations. Its commitment to ESG is also worrying, as the company pressures investees to increase their ESG scores; that gives it great leverage around the world.
Is a backlash against corporate wokeness building, though? Recently, companies including Anheuser Busch and Target have seen their bottom line hit hard when they promoted gender ideology. BlackRock, however, is a harder target — more people buy beer than fund-linked investments. But if it makes itself unpopular enough, it could end up in trouble. O’Keefe seems as if he would like that idea. He’s spent time probing the company, and while Varley told him a lot about how BlackRock runs, O’Keefe doesn’t seem to like it any more than he did when he started.
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