One of the most prominent voices of capitalism has spoken, and he defended his years-long campaign to improve corporate responsibility as not “woke,” but rather a way for businesses to more sustainably rake in cash. “Make no mistake, the fair pursuit of profit is still what animates markets; and long-term profitability is the measure by which markets will ultimately determine your company’s success,” BlackRock’s billionaire CEO, Larry Fink, wrote in his annual letter. In 2018, Fink penned a separate letter threatening to pull support from companies that don’t “make a positive contribution to society,” though he has resisted calls to fully divest from the fossil-fuel industry, arguing that such a move would “simply drive up energy prices and encourage more of a backlash against green-energy efforts.”
