“It all came together in the summer of 2017. At that time, there were extreme political changes in various countries. Frustrated voices became louder because many governments are not able to fulfill what parts of the electorate expect from them. Therefore, more and more people started to turn to companies and ask them what role they want to play in society. I realized that companies would be exposed to a larger public discussion – and must be prepared for these changed expectations.”
– Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager Blackrock, on the question of whether there was a specific event that brought him to the Purpose concept, in “Companies must do more”, Handelsblatt, April 22, 2019, No. 77