BlackRock's newest board member
- Nathan Bomey, author of Axios Closer
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, center, attends the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 26, 2022. Photo: Tasneem Alsultan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The boss of Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company is joining the board of BlackRock, Nathan writes.
Driving the news: Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser is replacing Bader Alsaad, chair of the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development, who will depart when his term expires in 2024.
Why it matters: With more than $9 trillion in assets under its management, BlackRock has emphasized its commitment to responsible environment, social and governance (ESG)-based investing.
- But CEO Larry Fink has recently tried to distance the company from the hot-button term as political backlash builds.
- Saudi Arabia is also under scrutiny for its human rights record.
Details: Nasser led Saudi Aramco's record-large IPO, and he's directed the company's push for net zero emissions by 2050.
- But he's also argued that "alternatives are not ready to shoulder a heavy load of the growing energy demand and therefore we need to work in parallel until alternatives are ready," Reuters reported.
Keep in mind: BlackRock's Fink was a vocal proponent of ESG, but he recently told the Aspen Ideas Festival that he won't use the term anymore.
- "I do believe in conscientious capitalism," he said, but ESG has "been misused by the far left and the far right."