Trader and financier Laurence Fink, managing trillions.
For many traders, success in the financial markets comes so suddenly that the wave of success simply blows away the head of the lucky person who holds their first million in their hands.
However, an equally astonishing phenomenon on Wall Street is the stories of bankruptcies and suicides, where people, having taken enormous profits, were unable to hold on to them, even going bankrupt, going to prison, or even committing suicide.
Such stories far outnumber actual success stories. But you know who's really rare?
Those who fell from the top, learned from their mistakes, and rose again, despite widespread criticism and condemnation from fellow investors.
Lawrence Fink's success story is one that would be worthy of being taught in any university finance class.
The most interesting thing is that, unlike many stock market gurus, he had practically nothing to do with the stock market world; no one in his family was involved in finance.
However, there was an entrepreneurial spirit in the Fink family, as his father owned a small shoe store.
His mother was a university professor, teaching English to students and also giving private lessons. Overall, he grew up in a very average American family.
Although Lawrence claims that he never thought about a career in finance, his choice of education actually suggests the opposite.
After graduating from high school, Lawrence Fink enrolled at the local University of California, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1974. However, after UCLA, Lawrence became interested in finance, so he enrolled at UCLA Anderson School, where he received an MBA.
Lawrence Fink's career path
A top-notch university degree and an MBA in finance opened up excellent prospects for the young man on Wall Street, which he seized.
His first job was at the investment bank First Boston, where the very young Lawrence Fink was entrusted with trading fixed income, specifically bonds.
At the time, the market was, to put it mildly, sluggish and relatively safe for a newbie to test his skills.
Nevertheless, Lawrence demonstrated excellent skills; after three years, he was appointed general manager, responsible for trading mortgage-backed securities.
This is what we now know about the US mortgage bubble, which impacted the global economy. Back then, mortgage-backed securities were a novelty, and Lawrence Fink was a pioneer. Thanks to his genius, First Boston earned $1 billion in net profit.
Naturally, with such returns, Laurence Fink became one of the most key figures at First Boston; he was even the youngest board member. Many predicted a successful career for him, and there were even rumors that he would become the bank's CEO. However, his dream was not destined to come true.
In 1986, Laurence and his department suffered losses estimated at $100 million.
Naturally, the young talent faced a barrage of criticism; not only did management begin to harass him, but his subordinates also spiraled out of control.
Most interestingly, because Laurence Fink had brought the company nearly $1 billion in profits, he could not be fired. At the same time, pressure was exerted on him through all legal and illegal means.
His own fund.
In 1988, together with his seven partners, Laurence founded BlackRock. Just five years later, the company managed approximately $17 billion, and the number of investors was growing exponentially.
This is due to the company's extremely low risks and its goal to preserve investor wealth as much as possible, rather than engaging in aggressive trading.
In 1999, BlackRock went public, resulting in a massive increase in both the company's and investors' capital. The company's management balance after the IPO was approximately $165 billion.
BlackRock made historic moves by acquiring and merging with such giants as Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in 2006 and, most recently, with Barclays Global Investors.
This merger unlocked vast technological opportunities and an incredible influx of capital, as the firm currently manages approximately $5 trillion.
Laurence Fink is currently actively searching for a successor to lead BlackRock after his departure. His decision to leave is simple: he is deeply interested in politics, and, moreover, he wields considerable influence within the Democratic Party.
