BlackRock was founded in 1988 by Larry Fink and seven partners as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, originally as part of The Blackstone Group. It is headquartered in New York City [[United States of America (USA)]]. Key developments: - 1988: Founded as Blackstone Financial Management - 1994: Separated from Blackstone Group - 1999: Goes public - 2009: Acquired Barclays Global Investors/iShares - 2020: Selected to manage Federal Reserve's bond-buying program Ownership: - Publicly traded company (NYSE: BLK) - Major shareholders include: * Vanguard Group * Capital Group * State Street Corporation * Institutional investors Current status: - World's largest asset manager - Manages over $10 trillion in assets - Known for: * iShares ETF platform * Aladdin investment technology * ESG investing initiatives * Institutional and retail investment products The company has grown from a fixed-income specialist to become the world's largest investment management firm, with significant influence in global financial markets.