Hedge fund titan George Soros killed BlackRock on Monday for entering billions of dollars in China, an action he said endangers customers’ money and U.S. security.
Soros, in a Wall Street Journal publication, said BlackRock’s investment in China is tantamount to propping up an oppressive regime. He warned that “it is likely to lose money for BlackRock customers and, most importantly, will harm the national security interests of the US and other democracies.”
BlackRock is the world’s largest money manager, with $ 9.5 trillion managed.
Late last month, BlackRock introduced investment funds in China so that Chinese investors could buy after receiving the green light from President Xi Jinping to launch investment products earlier this year. Shortly after obtaining approval, BlackRock recommended that customers invest more money in China.
But while China is opening up to foreign investment after several trade agreements signed with the United States, Soros, who is known to support liberal causes through his Open Society Foundations, warns that it is a serious mistake for banks and other financial institutions expand their presence nationwide.
Soros called on BlackRock President and President Larry Fink, as well as Blackstone President and President Stephen Schwarzman and former Goldman Sachs President John Thornton, to jump into the “prospect of business opportunities hanging by Mr. Some “.
BlackRock defended his position in a statement to The Post.
“The United States and China have a broad and complex economic relationship,” BlackRock said. “Total trade in goods and services between the two countries topped $ 600 billion by 2020. Through our investment activity, U.S.-based asset managers and other financial institutions contribute to the economic interconnection of the two largest economies in the world. ”
Xi has used his power to crack down on several successful companies over the past year, including stopping the IPO of Alibaba Ant Group a few days before the company went public and launching an investigation into the company Didi days after being quoted to an American exchange company.
The moves have led to strong sales of Chinese stocks. Didi has fallen more than 30 percent since it went public earlier this summer and Alibaba has plummeted 35 percent over the past year.
Soros said he sees these early moves aimed at technology-focused companies as a sign that Xi will do whatever it takes to stay in power.
“The first efforts could have been morally justified by the claims that they were building bridges to bring the countries closer, but now the situation is totally different,” Soros said of encouraging investment in China. “Today, the United States and China are engaged in a deadly conflict between two systems of governance: repressive and democratic.”
Soros has previously spoken out against repressive regimes. He survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary during World War II and moved to England after the war. He has focused his charitable donation on organizations that “build vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens.”
Soros is a mega donor for Democrats. In 2020, he injected more than $ 28 million into several Democratic campaigns. It also supports various liberal causes – which attract the wrath of conservatives – such as a wealth tax.
In recent weeks, Soros has come out swinging against China. In another WSJ, last month, he wrote, “Xi’s dictatorship threatens the Chinese state.” He later argued in the Financial Times that “Xi’s Chinese investors are facing a rude awakening” and that Xi “does not understand the market economy.”
Soros has donated more than $ 32 billion through its Open Society Foundations philanthropy. Some of the recipients are the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Robin Hood Foundation.