BlackRock Replacing Goldman Sachs As Top Financial Firm In The White House

As President-Elect Biden continues naming people to his administration, it’s looking increasingly like BlackRock could be replacing Goldman Sachs as the financial company with the largest presence inside the White House.

There are rumors circulating that Biden is going to name two executives from BlackRock, which has more than $7 trillion under management, to positions on his economic team, according to the NY Post. 

Brian Deese, a current BlackRock executive and former adviser to President Barack Obama, has reportedly been picked to head up the National Economic Council, while “Wally” Adeyemo, a former chief of staff to Larry Fink, could be set to become deputy Treasury Secretary.

Deese is not an economist, the piece notes, but worked on initiatives like the auto bailout and the Paris Climate Accord during the Obama administration. 39 year old Adeyemo, a Kenyan lawyer, worked in the Treasury Department during the Obama administration. He then went on to work as a deputy director for the NEC in 2017. 

“Larry is the new Goldman Sachs. Deese is not necessarily a ‘BlackRock guy,’ but he works for Larry and now he advises the president,” one investment banker told The Post. 

Executives from Goldman Sachs, who generally are known to have a presence inside the White House, have been “conspicuously absent from Biden’s lists,” the Post reported, citing insiders.

“Goldman and other banks have sent their people into government, whereas Larry took these guys from the White House, worked with them, backed Biden, and now he’s putting them back into the White House,” one fund manager said. BlackRock’s Larry Fink has backed numerous liberal causes despite drawing the ire of the left for his investments in private prisons and weapons manufacturers.

Fink also publicly supported Biden during the election, drumming up rumors that he was interested in the Treasury Secretary or NEC role himself. 

Another unnamed hedge fund manager said: “Hedge fund and private equity guys were always going to be part of future White Houses. To be honest, I’m glad it’s BlackRock and not people who have no idea what they’re doing.”