BlackRock faces activist proposal to split CEO and chairman roles

Bluebell Capital Partners is escalating its activist campaign against BlackRock with a shareholder proposal to bar Larry Fink from serving as both chief executive officer and chairman.

The activist investor is seeking an overhaul of the board and calling for an independent chair to increase oversight, BlackRock said Thursday in its annual proxy filing.

For about three years, London-based Bluebell has been targeting BlackRock for taking contradictory and inconsistent approaches to ESG investing that expose the firm to increasing risks of so-called greenwashing.

The board said in response that the proposal isn’t in shareholders’ best interests.

Having Fink (71) in both roles “is the most appropriate and effective leadership structure for the board and the company,” according to the filing.

He “brings over 30 years of strategic leadership experience and an unparalleled knowledge of BlackRock’s business, operations and risks.”

Bluebell, founded by Giuseppe Bivona and Marco Taricco, launched other campaigns in recent years against companies including yogurt maker Danone SA and Toronto-based movie-theater chain Cineplex.

The activist firm also has pushed for changes at drugmaker GSK and chemical producer Bayer. Bluebell’s previous targets have often attracted attention from other investors including Elliott Investment Management and Artisan Partners.

Fink co-founded BlackRock in 1988 and helped take it public in 1999. Since then, the shares have gained an average of 20 per cent annually, compared with 7.8 per cent for the S&P 500.

BlackRock also said in the filing that Fink received about $26.9 million of compensation for last year, a decline of 18 per cent from 2022. – Bloomberg