Barbara Novick

Barbara Novick co-founded BlackRock in 1988 after working in First Boston's Mortgage Products Group. As Vice Chairman she built the firm's client business and later led its government relations, public policy and investment stewardship work before stepping back in 2021.

For roughly BlackRock's first two decades Novick ran its global client business, winning the institutional mandates that funded the firm's early growth. She then set up its government relations and public policy group, which represented BlackRock in the post-2008 debate over whether large asset managers should be regulated like banks, and oversaw investment stewardship, the team that votes the proxies of the companies BlackRock's funds hold. She retired from her executive role in 2021 and became a senior adviser to the firm. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).