Squawk on the Street · Oct 14, 2026 · 42m · 36m saved
With Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock
Photo: Kena Betancur/European Commission, CC BY 4.0 via Wikipedia
BlackRock added $205 billion of assets in the third quarter, a quarter in which US stocks were flat and bonds fell 3%.
Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, told Squawk on the Street that the demand for money behind that growth is not limited to AI. Most of the debate about capital centers on how much the largest technology companies will spend on data centers. Larry said his firm is financing elder care and telecoms as well, and is building a way to lend against AI chips the way the mortgage market lends against houses.
"We are seeing demand for capital in all different segments of the economy." — Larry Fink
Larry has spent 50 years in finance and runs a firm that reported a record $15.5 trillion of client assets for the quarter, with inflows, revenue and adjusted income all above expectations.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 42 minutes of audio, 6 minutes of reading.
Here are the 7 arguments that matter.
Key Takeaways
Capital is short for the first time in Larry's 50-year career, and the demand is not only from AI
US national debt rose from $8 trillion in 2000 to $40 trillion, which Larry calls a major driver of credit demand
BlackRock wants rating agencies to rate debt backed by the resale value of AI chips, about a year from now
The model is the mortgage-backed securities market, now $15 trillion
Private credit loan losses are about half a percent, below the historical average, even with the 10-year yield at 5.3%
A moratorium on data center construction would push the US into recession, in Larry's view
Fears about AI and jobs are overstated while the US is short of electricians, plumbers, welders and nurses
1. Capital Demand Is Everywhere
Squawk on the Street opened by reading Larry's own words from BlackRock's third-quarter conference call back to him: "I'm seeing genuine shortages of capital. Governments are running historically large deficits, while at the same time demand for private capital is rising across the economy."
BlackRock is financing elder care and telecoms, not only AI and data centers
Larry pointed to two large transactions the firm had just done, one with Humana in elder care and one with AT&T. The demand for capital he described runs across the economy rather than through a single sector.
