BlackRock shareholders gave a lukewarm thumbs-up to CEO Larry Fink's compensation package, with roughly 65% approving the executive pay plans. Fink received $37.7 million in 2025, a roughly 23% jump from the prior year, plus an unquantifiable long-term carried interest award in private funds. The vote fell well short of the typical 90% support for such proposals across the S&P 500.

The compensation structure drew scrutiny after BlackRock's board first awarded Fink carried interest in 2024 and expanded it to include finance chief Martin Small and Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein. Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended voting against the packages, citing transparency concerns and the difficulty of valuing the carried interest program. Both major advisory firms urged investment-fund clients to reject the plans.

The thin shareholder margin reflects growing unease over executive pay transparency at BlackRock, which manages trillions in assets. Fink's carried interest award, common for alternative fund managers but unusual for corporate executives, adds another layer of opacity to already complex incentive structures.