BlackRock chief Larry Fink warns Davos: Capitalism must evolve
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP via Getty Images
DAVOS, Switzerland — BlackRock CEO Larry Fink will open the World Economic Forum with a blunt acknowledgment that Davos — and the economic system it represents — is facing a crisis of legitimacy.
Why it matters: As thousands of executives and global leaders descend on the Swiss Alps for a week of cocktails and canapés, WEF's interim co-chair will warn that the prosperity they celebrate has left too many people behind.
- Except for the United Nations, this year's conference marks "the largest gathering of global leadership of the post-COVID era," Fink will say in his opening remarks Tuesday.
- "But now for the harder question," he'll add. "Will anyone outside this room care?"
The big picture: Fink, who inherits the mantle of "mayor of Davos" from WEF founder Klaus Schwab, is casting this year's forum as an elite gathering struggling for relevance in an age of populism and deep institutional distrust.
- "Many of the people most affected by what we talk about here will never come to this conference," Fink will acknowledge.
- "Prosperity isn't just growth in the aggregate. It can't be measured by GDP or the market caps of the world's largest companies alone. It has to be judged by how many people can see it, touch it and build a future on it."
Between the lines: Fink believes the AI revolution — a theme of virtually every pavilion on the Davos promenade — will pose the ultimate test of whether capitalism can deliver prosperity beyond its traditional winners.
- "Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, more wealth has been created than in all prior human history combined," the world's most powerful asset manager will say. Most of it has accrued to the kinds of people who attend Davos.
- "Now AI threatens to replay the same pattern," Fink will warn. "If AI does to white-collar work what globalization did to blue-collar, we need to confront that directly."
What to watch: Fink's remarks set the stage for a week in which Davos' elite consensus will be tested by populist politics — including President Trump's high-profile return.
- Fink is also calling for more dialogue — arguing that the forum must listen to, not lecture, the people and perspectives it has traditionally excluded.
- "Davos, yes. But also places like Detroit and Dublin," Fink will say, promising to take WEF's conversations beyond the Alpine bubble. "The mountain will come down to earth."
