In a CNBC interview Tuesday, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink left the door open to serving as Hillary Clinton’s Treasury Secretary.
Fink has been discussed as a potential Treasury Secretary for years. He operates the largest asset management firm in the world, which has helped him amass a tremendous personal fortune, along with positions advising major policymakers. During the financial crisis, he leveraged his connections to secure no-bid contracts managing the government’s bailout portfolios, and his ideas have influenced some of Clinton’s policy proposals.
The progressive wing of the Democratic Party, of course, is resistant to the prospect of a Wall Street tycoon running the nation’s financial policy, particularly one who views former Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Timothy Geithner ― architects and implementers of the bank bailouts ― as role models. When Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gave a speech last month at the Center for American Progress warning the audience of Clintonites against naming revolving door financiers to top regulatory posts, she had Fink in mind, among others.
“I know that personnel is policy,” Warren said. “But let me be clear — when we talk about personnel, we don’t mean advisors who just pay lip service to Hillary’s bold agenda, coupled with a sigh, a knowing glance, and a twiddling of thumbs until it’s time for the next swing through the revolving door, serving government then going back to the very same industries they regulate. We don’t mean Citigroup or Morgan Stanley or BlackRock getting to choose who runs the economy in this country so they can capture our government.”
When CNBC’s Joe Kernan asked Fink about Warren’s speech on Tuesday, the executive didn’t deny interest in joining a Clinton government.
“She’s talking about big money managers and players,” Kernan said. “And I’d feel left out if I were Goldman Sachs … I’d want her making fun of me. So are you happy she mentioned you or unhappy?”
“Neither,” Fink responded. “It’s just noise. It’s noise. I’m not paying much attention to what she’s saying. Specifically, at BlackRock there is no revolving door. I don’t know anybody who went to government. We have a number of people who left government and stayed in the private sector and are part of BlackRock.”
Watch Fink’s comments in the video below:
“[Warren] doesn’t want anyone on Wall Street whose ever had any experience doing anything in Washington,” CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin added. “That’s all you need to know.”
The CNBC anchors were a little confused. The reason Warren didn’t name-check Goldman Sachs in her speech probably had something to do with maneuvering by progressives to secure a Clinton gig for Gary Gensler, widely regarded as the toughest financial regulator of the Obama years. Gensler is also a Goldman alum.
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