Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, kicked off the World Economic Forum on Tuesday with a critique of capitalism.
More wealth has been created since the fall of the Berlin Wall than at any other time in human history, but it has not translated into shared prosperity, said Fink, who was appointed as interim co-chair of the World Economic Forum in August 2025, replacing founder Klaus Schwab.
“In advanced economies, that wealth has accrued to a far narrower share of people than any healthy society can ultimately sustain,” he said.
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Fink warned that the pattern of unequal wealth distribution could repeat in the era of AI.
“Early gains are flowing to the owners of models, owners of data, and owners of infrastructure,” said Fink.
“The open question, what happens to everyone else? If AI does to white collar workers what globalisation did to blue collar workers, we need to confront that today, directly.”
He urged those gathered at the annual meeting in Davos to rethink how prosperity is defined and to create a “credible plan” for broad participation in the gains AI can deliver.
“This is going to be the test. Capitalism can evolve to turn more people into owners of growth instead of spectators watching it happen,” said Fink.
The world’s wealthiest 10% own roughly 75% of global wealth, while the poorest half hold only about 2%, according to the World Inequality Report 2026, released in December 2025 and based on data compiled by 200 researchers.
Fink acknowledged in his speech that the World Economic Forum has lost trust and “feels out of step with the moment.”
“Davos is an elite gathering trying to shape a world that belongs to everyone,” Fink said, adding that the forum should be more transparent and precise about what economic success means, especially with those who don’t feel represented at gatherings like Davos.
“Prosperity just isn’t the growth in the aggregate. It’s not just GDP. It can’t be measured by GDP or the market caps of companies. It has to be judged by many people who see it, who can touch it, can feel it, and can build their own future on it,” said Fink.
Fink has previously spoken about how the pandemic fueled a rethink of the US economy.
In his 2022 annual letter to shareholders, Fink said the growth of stakeholder capitalism — the idea that companies should prioritize interests beyond shareholders — was a natural evolution of how capitalism can best work to build a strong economy.
“It is through effective stakeholder capitalism that capital is efficiently allocated, companies achieve durable profitability, and value is created and sustained over the long-term,” he said.
BlackRock, which manages some $14 trillion in assets, has been one of the loudest voices in support of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing, with Fink often highlighting climate change and sustainability in his annual letters.
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