There’s been a lot of rumors and conspiracy theories floating around that BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), a large investment firm, owns a large part of the world we know. But somehow, it’s all done in a shadowy way. And BlackRock typically gets lumped in with other companies like Vanguard, State Street, and others.

While these companies might not have kitchen table name recognition, the reason their name shows up on company ownership reports so often is for a simple reason: these companies all manage mutual funds and ETFs that own these companies’ shares.

BlackRock manages a staggering $10.47 trillion in assets as of Q1 2024. With that much in assets, does BlackRock really own everything? The short answer is no. But let’s dive into why and where this conspiracy is coming from.

BlackRock Owns Everything Conspiracy

There are many videos across social media that are sharing how, when you look at every company in the stock market, BlackRock seems to come up as one of the largest owners.

For example, if you look at the Apple (NSQ: AAPL) ownership report, you’ll see that BlackRock is the second-largest owner of Apple Stock, owning 6.91% of the entire company, worth $237 billion.

These reports have been highlighted in videos, like this one that has over 5.5 million views on TikTok:

Debunking The Myth

At its core, BlackRock is tasked with managing wealth on behalf of institutional investors, governments, and individuals. Despite the massive size of its balance sheet, direct equity investments made by BlackRock itself make up a relatively small portion of its operations. Instead, its funds hold significant stakes in large corporations, but these investments are tied to the clients who own the funds.

For example, BlackRock’s iShares S&P 500 ETF is the third-largest ETF in the world by assets. This single ETF makes up about 5% of BlackRock’s total assets.

However, as an asset manager, BlackRock doesn’t “own” the underlying assets. The shareholders of the ETFs do. BlackRock is simply a steward for their client’s investments. They are not the true owners of the assets.

And when you start looking at the ownership reports of these ETFs, the picture changes quite a bit. The ownership of these ETFs (and mutual funds) is very spread out among smaller investment advisors, retirement accounts, and individuals.

Because, at the end of the day, each owner of the ETF actually owns their tiny fraction of the underlying investments.

Even in non-publicly traded investments, like real estate, BlackRock is simply the custodian for their investors – whether purchasing real estate, issuing or buying debt, and more.

So, at the end of the day, no, BlackRock does not own everything. However, since BlackRock is a large asset manager and manager of huge ETFs (that are required to invest in the underlying index of stocks), their name shows up as an owner across most of the publicly traded companies in the world.