Meet Mukesh Ambani’s friend, China is scared of him, owns company with assets worth thrice of India’s GDP; his name is…, business is…
Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Financial Services Limited (JFSL) recently joined forces with BlackRock– the world’s largest asset management firm– to venture into the rapidly growing Indian mutual fund industry which is estimated to own assets worth Rs 70 lakh crore by April 2025 end, according to latest data.
The joint venture has birthed a new entity, Jio-BlackRock Asset Management Private Limited, which has received approved from market regulator SEBI to start its business operations in India.
‘World’s most powerful man’
BlackRock was established by Larry Fink in 1988, considered by many as the “world’s most powerful” individual, primarily due to sheer volume of assets managed by his firm. According to latest data, BlackRock manages assets worth an estimated $11.58 trillion, as of 2024 end. For context, the amount is around thrice the total GDP of India, the world’s fourth-largest economy.
About 10 percent of total shares and bonds in the world’s stock markets are handled by BlackRock, which makes essentially makes the firm akin to a shadow bank that is larger and much more powerful than any other financial institution on the planet.
Headquartered in New York City, BlackRock owns stakes in major firms in almost every sector, including in tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, Google, Meta and Tesla. The company has 70 offices in 30 countries, and clients in 100 countries.
Larry Fink and the birth of BlackRock
Credited by many for starting debt syndication, Larry Fink started trading shares from a young age to earn quick money, and was appointed as the Managing Director of a major bank at just 31 years of age. During his tenure, Fink churned out unprecedented profits for the bank, making $1 billion in just one year.
Buoyed by his success, Larry Fink began taking more risks which backfired as the bank incurred a $100 million loss in a single quarter, resulting in him being sacked.
Armed with knowledge of the working of stock markets and financial institutions, Larry Fink joined hands with famous investor and founder of Blackstone Inc. Steve Schwarzman, to establish BlackRock, which has today transformed into a gargantuan asset management firm with assets worth a staggering $11.58 trillion.
The year was 1988 and Fink was 35 at the time.
Schwarzman’s Blackstone Inc. invested $5 million dollars in Fink’s venture, and General Electric (GE) became the firm’s first client. The company grew at a rapid pace, and in just five year, its assets under management reached $20 billion. But Schwarzman soon left due to growing differences with Fink, following which the firm was official named BlackRock.
How powerful is BlackRock?
Today, BlackRock is regarded as the world’s most influential financial institution, and its influence can be gauged from the fact that even the highly-restrictive Chinese government could not prevent it from venturing into the country. During the 2008 financial crisis, the US government turned to BlackRock for help even as some analysts blame the asset manager for being at the root of the economic meltdown.
Later, in 2020, when the bond market was in shamble due to the Covid-19 pandemic, BlackRock once again came to the rescue.
Larry Fink joins hands with Mukesh Ambani
Earlier, in February this year, Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio Financial Services announced its partnership with Larry Fink-led global asset management giant, BlackRock, to create Jio-BlackRock, a joint venture that will provide asset management services in India.
As per details, Ambani’s Jio Financial Services Ltd. and BlackRock have inked a deal to create a joint venture on 50:50 partnership basis. Last year, the venture received approval from securities regulator SEBI to launch a mutual fund business.
According to market experts, Mukesh Ambani aims to turn the India’s financial sector upside down with the Jio-BlackRock joint venture, while asset management titan, that had exited the country in 2018, views this as an opportunity to tap into one of the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
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