Laurence D. Fink

Laurence D. Fink is the chairman and chief executive officer of BlackRock

Early life and education

Fink earned an MBA at the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management (then known simply as the UCLA Graduate School of Management) in 1976 after completing a BA from UCLA in 1974.^[2]

[edit]Career

Fink started his career at First Boston upon graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles. After moving on to heading First Boston's bond department, Fink was instrumental in the creation and development of the mortgage-backed security market in the United States.^[3]

In 1988, Fink moved to private equity firm Blackstone as a partner; in 1989, BlackRock, an investment management firm, was founded as a subsidiary of Blackstone with Fink as its CEO. In 1992, BlackRock was spun off from Blackstone and became an independent company. Fink remained chairman and CEO. Today, BlackRock is a leading firm in its sector.^[3]

Fink serves on the board of trustees of New York University, and holds various chairmanships including the Financial Affairs Committee. He is a member of the Executive Committee, and also co-chairman of the NYU Hospitals Center Board of Trustees. Fink is a trustee of the Boys' Club of New York.^[3]

[edit]Compensation

As of 2010, Fink was the highest-paid CEO of all US financial companies. His $22.7 million annual compensation exceeded that of any Wall Street CEO.^[4]

Despite his enormous compensation package, Larry Fink tries to project an image of fiscal parsimony: For instance, as of 2008 BlackRock does not operate private jet planes, so Fink is flying commercial airlines (as opposed to most other Fortune-100 CEOs);^[5] also, interviewers also emphasized that he is "taking the train rather than a private jet" when he spends time at his 26-acre country estate in North Salem, New York, about 50 miles from his NYC office.^[6]

[edit]Personal life

Fink's eldest son, Joshua Fink, serves as chief executive officer of Enso Capital

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