The U.S. government contracted with BlackRock to help clean up after the financial meltdown of 2008. According to Vanity Fair, the financial establishment in Washington and on Wall Street believed BlackRock was the best choice for the job.[14] In 2009, BlackRock first became the number 1 asset manager worldwide.[11] In April 2009, BlackRock acquired R3 Capital Management, LLC and took control of the $1.5 billion fund.[15] On 12 June 2009, Barclays sold its Global Investors unit (BGI), which included its exchange traded fund business, iShares, to BlackRock for US$13.5 billion. Through the deal, Barclays attained a near-20% stake in BlackRock.[16] BGI was headquartered in San Francisco, with research and portfolio management teams in London, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, and other cities.[citation needed]
2010–2017 Edit
In 2010, Ralph Schlosstein, the CEO of Evercore Partners and a BlackRock founder, called BlackRock "the most influential financial institution in the world."[17] On 1 April 2011, BlackRock replaced Genzyme on the S&P 500 index.[18]
In 2013, Fortune listed BlackRock on its annual list of the world's 50 Most Admired Companies.[11] In 2014, The Economist said that BlackRock's $4 trillion under management made it the "world's biggest asset manager," and it was larger than the world's largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China with $3 trillion.[5] In May of the same year, BlackRock invested in Snapdeal.[19]