Blackrock Founder Laurence D. Fink at The Economic Club of New York
For Immediate Release
March 14, 2024 – New York, NY – American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) and Avara Pharmaceuticals shall host their clients, colleagues, and friends at a reception and luncheon program sponsored by the Economic Club of New York, featuring Laurence D. Fink, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blackrock on April 7, 2025 in New York. As the world’s largest asset manager, Blackrock has assets under management of over $11.6 trillion. Blackrock funds are among the top three shareholders of the largest publicly traded corporations.
Mr. Fink has been described as one of the "World's Greatest Leaders" by Fortune, and one of the "World's Best CEOs" for 12 consecutive years by Barrons. At the Economic Club luncheon, Mr. Fink will share his remarkable personal journey and his unique perspectives on the future of investment, the domestic and world economy, and international market trends.
L. M. Levie, Chairman of AIAC and Avara Pharmaceuticals and Member of the Economic Club of New York Centennial Society and its Legacy Society, stated, “We look forward to welcoming our friends to this significant luncheon program featuring Laurence Fink of Blackrock. Larry’s visionary leadership has transformed global asset management, redefined responsible investing, and influenced the global financial landscape for years to come. The emergence of Blackrock as the largest money manager in the world after its founding by Larry a mere 37 years ago, stands as one of the most remarkable accomplishments in modern finance and business.”
About Laurence D. Fink
Laurence D. Fink is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BlackRock. He and seven partners founded BlackRock in 1988, and under his leadership, the firm has grown into the world’s largest asset manager, with $11.6 trillion in assets under management. Prior to founding BlackRock in 1988, Mr. Fink was a member of the Management Committee and a Managing Director of The First Boston Corporation.
Mr. Fink serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum and is Co-Chair of the NYU Langone Medical Center Board of Trustees. In addition, he serves on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Modern Art, the International Rescue Committee, and the Executive Committee of the Partnership for New York City.
Mr. Fink earned an MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1976 and a BA from UCLA in 1974.
For further information, please see:
WWW.BLACKROCK.COM/CORPORATE/ABOUT-US/LEADERSHIP/LARRY-FINK
About American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) is a diversified industrial group with manufacturing and distribution sites in 24 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia-New Zealand. AIAC has acquired and grown non-core subsidiaries and divisions of Boeing, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Johnson Controls, Merck, Pfizer, Astellas, Visteon, Carlyle, Ahlstrom, Tolko, Groupe Suez, Groupe Rexel, and many other leading multinational corporations.
AIAC companies serve companies and governmental entities worldwide in all major sectors, including aviation, space, defense, automotive, truck, rail, marine, petrochemical, solar, nuclear, food, confectionary, beverage, civil engineering and infrastructure, commercial construction, mining, dredging, disaster relief, education, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, AIAC companiesare exclusive, authorized distributors of leading branded industrial and consumer products and serve as critical suppliers for the construction of major airports, schools, hospitals, performing arts and sports centers, offices and hotels throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. AIAC is a leading manufacturer of building, street, and highway signage in Europe, signage and illumination structures in North America, and a distributor of electrical products throughout France.
Of note, AIAC purchased Boeing Canada in 2005 and has produced over 10,000 unique components for every Boeing jet plane ever since, reliably serving Boeing from manufacturing facilities in North America. A leader in ultra-high precision jet engine component manufacturing, AIAC companies produce 2,200 fan blades for each jet engine produced by GE, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and Honeywell.
AIAC companies actively support exploration into outer space, manufacturing critical components for launching and propelling spacecraft and satellites. AIAC customers in this sector include NASA, the European Space Agency, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing. AIAC companies also lead in the design and manufacture of undersea umbilical cables for worldwide oceanographic research.
AIAC companies produce the critical automotive wire and cable for Tesla, GM, Ford, Chrysler-Fiat, Toyota, and Nissan. In connection with its kraft paper manufacturing interests in Canada and the US, AIAC controls and sustainably manages 22 million acres of Manitoba, Canada forestland, an area equivalent in size to the nation of Hungary. AIAC affiliate, Metallwarenfabrik Gemmingen GmbH, located in Germany, designs, manufactures and distributes high performance, emergency portable power generators utilized in global conflict zones and during natural disasters.
About AIAC Philanthropy
AIAC and the AIAC Foundation support a wide range of nonprofit, nonsectarian, bipartisan organizations which promote international conflict resolution, disaster relief, economic development, environmental sustainability, exploration, and the performing arts. The exploration-focused nonprofit organizations which they actively support include the National Geographic Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Space Society, and the United States Space Foundation.
L. M. Levie, Chairman of AIAC, is a Member of the Centennial Society and Legacy Society of the Economic Club of New York and a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Explorers Club.
AIAC’s other beneficiaries include the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates Foundation Inc., the Asia Society, the Atlantic Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - Gates Philanthropy Partners, the Bretton Woods Committee, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carter Center, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York, the Foreign Policy Association, the Institut Française des Relations Internationales, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Crisis Group, the International Rescue Committee, the Japan Society, the JFK School of Government of Harvard University, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the Sierra Club, and the Trilateral Commission.
For further information, please see:
HTTPS://WWW.AIAC.COM/OUR-VALUES
About Avara Pharmaceutical Services
Avara Pharmaceutical Services is a global leader in contract manufacturing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. With campuses in Arecibo, Puerto Rico; Norman, Oklahoma; and Liscate, Italy, Avara serves 40 countries, producing a wide range of critical medications, including oral solid doses and injectable pharmaceuticals.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Avara played a key role in manufacturing essential treatments. In 2021, Avara Norman produced the active pharmaceutical ingredients for Remdesivir, a leading COVID-19 treatment. Avara Liscate manufactured Nimbex for AbbVie from 2020 to 2022 and Adrenaline for Pfizer from 2020 to 2024, both vital respiratory drugs for COVID-19 patients. Avara’s state-of-the-art facilities ensure compliance with global regulatory standards and enable efficient production processes. Committed to sustainability, Avara invests in advanced manufacturing techniques and environmental initiatives. Trusted by clients such as Aspen, AbbVie, Astellas, Bausch & Lomb, Genentech-Roche, Merck, Organon, Pfizer, SK Life, and others, Avara tailors its services to meet unique client needs.
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About the Economic Club of New York
Founded in 1907, the Economic Club of New York is the premier forum for discussion on a wide range of issues facing New York City, the United States, and the world. The Club welcomes preeminent thought leaders from across the globe and from the public and private sectors to speak on complex issues ranging from public policy and economic regulation to tech disruption. Nonpolitical, nonpartisan, and nonprofit, the Club promotes no agenda and takes no sides on issues, encouraging speakers and members to engage openly in thoughtful discussions.
The Economic Club comprises individual members, drawing from the senior leadership of many prominent corporate and financial organizations based in the metropolitan area. The Club has hosted speakers who are experts in their respective fields and who drive the conversations that shape the world’s future.
Past speakers include leaders of Fortune Global 500 companies and multiple U.S. presidents, including Woodrow Wilson, William H. Taft, Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush. International heads of state such as Winston Churchill, Mikhail Gorbachev, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, and Yitzhak Rabin have addressed the Club. In recent
months, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. Federal Reserve System Chair Jerome Powell, Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates, JPMorgan Chair Jamie Dimon, U.S. Secretaries of Treasury Janet Yellen and Scott Bessent, and Citadel Founder and Chair Ken Griffin have addressed the Club.
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