BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said trillions of dollars of ordinary people’s “savings accounts and pension accounts” will be used to fund the construction of new data centers and power infrastructure.
Rating:
Context:
Fink was making a prediction of where funding would come from, not a declaration. According to a BlackRock spokesperson, Fink was referring to long-term investment accounts often used for retirement savings when he said “savings accounts,” not fixed-interest savings accounts available at banks.
In May 2026, social media users made posts claiming (archived) Larry Fink, CEO of the investment company BlackRock, said that the trillions of dollars necessary for the United States to build out infrastructure for artificial intelligence technologies, including new data centers and power grid expansion, would come from from “savings accounts and pension accounts” of ordinary Americans.
A video of Fink making the statement accompanied the claim, which spread widely online. Snopes also readers wrote in looking to find out whether it was a real quote.
We found that it was a real quote from Fink — and therefore we rate it a correct attribution — but that the social media posts incorrectly framed Fink’s remarks as declarative statements rather than a prediction. We reached out to BlackRock to ask if the company would like to provide any additional information about Fink’s remarks.
In a phone call, Lauren Willis, a BlackRock spokesperson, confirmed Fink had made the remark, but she said he was talking about long-term accounts commonly used for retirement savings, such as 401(k) accounts and pensions, not savings accounts that provide a fixed interest rate.
To determine whether Fink truly made the remark, we searched for news involving him and the man sitting next to him in the video, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. That search led to information from BlackRock and the Texas governor’s office documenting a May 6, 2026, event at Texas State Technical College in Waco.
The event aimed to promote BlackRock’s “$30 million philanthropic investment” in Texas with the goal of training more than 12,000 people across the state in electrical trades. It was part of BlackRock’s “Future Builders” initiative, which launched in March 2026 with a budget of $100 million nationwide. The initiative “will help address urgent labor needs by connecting workers to skilled trades training, supporting them through completion and licensure, and helping participants build long-term financial security,” according to the BlackRock news release announcing the program.
In a video of the full event, we found the aforementioned quote a little over 30 minutes into the footage, while Fink was answering a question about infrastructure investments.
We have transcribed Fink’s remarks below to provide context (emphasis ours):
MODERATOR: Larry, let’s talk globally. You’ve said the world will need as much as $68 trillion in new infrastructure investment by 2040 — that’s trillion with a “T,” now. Where do you see the biggest need for infrastructure investment when it comes to around the world?
FINK: Well, let me just highlight the United States. In the next 10 years, we’re going to — the U.S. alone needs over $10 trillion of investing in infrastructure. And the key is, how is that going to be — where is the money going to be coming from?
And the key is, and the beauty of the United States, and the vitality of the United States, more foreigners want to bring their money to the United States. That is a real indication of the U.S. exceptionalism vs. so many other places. So we still remain to be a great destination.
But I believe much of this money is going to come from average savings accounts and investment accounts.
It is important that we have — we build more and more confidence with more and more of our population to grow with the United States. Keeping money just in a bank account, you’re not growing with your economy, you’re not growing with the United States.
So we need to instill more confidence why investing over the long run, investing the long run in Texas, or throughout the United States, you will do far better as an investment vehicle than you would be in investing or keeping your money in a savings account at a bank.
[…]
But as the governor was talking about, the need for electrons is growing every day. Some of these, you know, if we’re going to be the leader in technology, which we are, if we are going to be the leader in AI, which we presently are, it’s just going to require trillions of dollars of investments. And if we don’t invest in it, China will be the global leader in this.
And so, to me it’s not whether — this is a must. And if you think about how that translates into a more-dynamic economy, we need the United States economy to grow over 2%, we need the U.S. economy to grow at 3%, especially with the growing deficits the federal government has.
And so, much of this money — is gonna be coming from the private sector. From savings accounts, from pension accounts, from insurance companies, and on and on and on.
The whole world is in need of improving the infrastructure. The governor talked about power in Texas, and the doubling of power here in Texas. But when you think about the United States, we have not invested in our power grids in the country as much as it needs.
[…]
And so the money, the trillions of dollars that is gonna be needed to create the vitality that our children or grandchildren or great grandchildren will have the same opportunities that we’ve had or we will have, and to me it’s gonna come from the private sector, we can’t just rely on the federal government, the state governments to finance it.
In sum — while Fink did say he thinks much of the money to build this infrastructure will come from the private sector, including from savings and investment accounts, context showed he was making a prediction, not a declaration.
Sources:
blackrock. “BlackRock Launches Texas Future Builders.” BlackRock, https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/announcement/blackrock-texas-future-builders-event. Accessed 27 May 2026.
“BlackRock Launches $100M Skilled Trades Initiative.” BlackRock, https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/article/corporate-one/press-releases/blackrock-launches-philanthropic-skilled-trades-initiative. Accessed 27 May 2026.
Governor Abbott Highlights $30 Million Philanthropic Investment To Expand Career Training Programs At TSTC. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-highlights-30-million-philanthropic-investment-to-expand-career-training-programs-at-tstc. Accessed 27 May 2026.
“Larry Fink.” BlackRock, https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/about-us/leadership/larry-fink. Accessed 27 May 2026.
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/fact-check-blackrock-ceo-said-130000549.html?shem=rimspwouoe,
