5 Most Powerful and Influential Companies

4) BlackRock (NYSE: BLK)

With more than $7.81 trillion in assets under management, BlackRock is one of the Big three investment firms that dominate corporate America. With operating reach across more than 100 countries globally, it continues to dominate the field.

BlackRock has faced its fair share of criticism for its stakes in several defense companies, as well as its shares in thermal coal industries. BlackRock along with Vanguard and State Street has faced calls from non-profits as well as many legislators for regularizing them since they have combined assets of a whopping $15 trillion, an equivalent of three-quarters of the U.S economy. Few representatives in Congress have even gone so far as to term them as “Shadow banks”.