Do they though? They do own a lot but sovereign wealth funds do too plus, unlike those AFAICT, one can easily switch from say a Vanguard ETF to whatever other investment vehicle they want in an instant. So yes they have tremendous power, too much, and they contribute to shaping markets worldwide… but it’s also not their actual money and other economical actors do exist.
So I’d argue “own” and “almost everything” is a big exaggerated.
PS: I’m not an economist so that’s just my candid understanding.
They manage these huge funds. The people who invested in their funds own the stocks in the funds. Though these companies do vote during stockholder meetings on behalf of their clients without the clients inputs. Thus they wield a lot of power over many companies but they don’t own it all. If all their clients decide to drop them and liquidate they lose all that power.
Blackrock doesn’t do real estate at all. People have been confusing the two companies for a while. It’s Blackstone you should hate for the housing crisis
Wait there’s a company called “Blackstone” as well as one called “Blackrock”, and both buy up real estate?
Blackstone is private equity. Blackrock makes the funds normal people buy for their retirement accounts.
Also a company called Vanguard. The 3 of them own almost everything
Isn’t Vanguard 401ks? Or is that a different Vanguard?
Yes
Do they though? They do own a lot but sovereign wealth funds do too plus, unlike those AFAICT, one can easily switch from say a Vanguard ETF to whatever other investment vehicle they want in an instant. So yes they have tremendous power, too much, and they contribute to shaping markets worldwide… but it’s also not their actual money and other economical actors do exist.
So I’d argue “own” and “almost everything” is a big exaggerated.
PS: I’m not an economist so that’s just my candid understanding.
They manage these huge funds. The people who invested in their funds own the stocks in the funds. Though these companies do vote during stockholder meetings on behalf of their clients without the clients inputs. Thus they wield a lot of power over many companies but they don’t own it all. If all their clients decide to drop them and liquidate they lose all that power.
Blackrock doesn’t do real estate at all. People have been confusing the two companies for a while. It’s Blackstone you should hate for the housing crisis
Is it bad I constantly confuse it for blackwater instead? I guess they murder the previous tenants, then buy up the house?