Top BlackRock executive Mark Wiedman to depart

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Top BlackRock executive Mark Widman is leaving, in a move that disrupts the wealth manager’s plans for founder Larry Fink’s eventual exit, according to four people close to the company.

Widmann was widely discussed as a possible successor Fink Was one of the most prominent public faces of the $11.5tn asset manager for more than a decade and most recently as head of client business.

BlackrockIts board described him in a regulatory filing last year as three “senior leaders who we believe will play an important role in BlackRock’s future” because it gave him a special retention package.

However, Wiedman, who led the integration and rapid growth of BlackRock’s flagship index and exchange traded fund businesses, chose not to wait. His departure will be announced soon, people said. He is forfeiting $8 million in stock options, according to the proxy.

Widmann’s departure comes after the world’s largest asset manager embarked on a $28 billion acquisition spree last year to bulk up its footprint in the fast-growing and lucrative alternative assets sector. The strategic moves not only put pressure on Fink, 72, to personally oversee their success, but also bring in a clutch of high-powered and high-paid executives who need to be carefully managed.

Fink, who has led BlackRock since its founding in 1988, is very popular with investors and one of the most influential people in finance. But something between the analyst and the firm Concerns have begun to emerge Whether the slow pace of succession planning will start the next generation of top talent going elsewhere. BlackRock President Rob Capito, 67, is also a founder of the firm.

BlackRock did not respond to a request for comment.

Wideman is leaving nearly a year after Salim Ramzi, another executive who was once touted as a potential leader. Ramji became chief executive of Vanguard, BlackRock’s main rival in the US and the world’s second largest asset manager. Several other lower-ranking executives have also left to take leadership jobs at smaller firms in the past few years, including Daniel Gamba from Northern Trust and Zach Buchwald from Russell Investments.

After Ramsey left, the group touted the strong stability of its current leaders, including Widman and two other executives who also received special option grants: Chief Operating Officer Robert Goldstein and Chief Financial Officer Martin Small.

“BlackRock is proud to have alumni of our firm have a track record of leading multiple investment management companies and financial institutions,” it previously said.

A senior Wall Street person with knowledge of the situation said, “Larry [Fink] and Rob [Kapito] not going anywhere They just made a big acquisition and you have to see it, [but] Widmann is at an age where if he doesn’t make a move, he’s too old to be a CEO.”

A lawyer by training, Widman joined Blackrock in 2004 after working at the US Treasury and McKinsey. He started BlackRock’s financial markets advisory consulting arm, which helped central banks and government agencies dig through the rubble of the 2008 financial crisis.

Wideman negotiated the purchase and merger of Barclays Global Investors in 2009, a deal seen as the most significant in BlackRock’s history. He then led the resulting iShares business from 2011 to 2019 as it became a juggernaut in indexes and ETFs.

Keenly interested in talent development, Widman has hired or promoted many of BlackRock’s top executives, including Small and Rachel Lord, who heads international business.