BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink cautioned that the rapid rise of artificial intelligence could further concentrate wealth among large corporations and investors unless more people gain access to financial markets.
In his annual letter to investors, Fink said much of the wealth generated in recent decades has largely benefited those who already held financial assets, and warned that the AI-driven economic shift could amplify that dynamic.
“The massive wealth created over the past several generations flowed mostly to people who already owned financial assets,” Fink wrote. “Now AI threatens to repeat that pattern at an even larger scale.”
Fink, who leads the world’s largest asset manager, said artificial intelligence is likely to reshape the labor market by eliminating some roles while creating new ones, but emphasized that the technology will generate substantial economic value.
He added that helping individuals invest alongside this growth will be crucial. “Encouraging individuals to invest for the long-term alongside that probable growth is both the challenge and the opportunity,” he said.
BlackRock currently oversees more than $14 trillion in assets for clients, and Fink argued that too few people are participating in the wealth generated by rising markets.
“Too many are left out,” Fink said. “When market capitalization rises but ownership remains narrow, prosperity can feel increasingly distant to those on the outside.”
Fink suggested that reforms to the U.S. Social Security system could help expand investment participation. Americans can begin claiming Social Security benefits at age 62, while those born after 1960 reach full retirement age at 67.
“Social Security provides stability, but it doesn’t allow most Americans to build wealth in a way that grows with their country,” said Fink, who is 73.
Although he said he does not support privatizing Social Security or investing all of its funds in equities, Fink argued that the program should be reconsidered before it faces funding pressures that could prevent it from delivering expected retirement benefits.
Currently, the Social Security trust fund is largely invested in U.S. Treasury bonds. Fink suggested that policymakers should consider whether those investments should be diversified.
At the same time, he acknowledged that meaningful changes to the system would be difficult to implement.
“Social Security is a core promise, and people rightly believe it should be honored,” Fink wrote. “But under the current system, doing nothing could very well break that promise.”