Who Owns Aladdin?

Aladdin was developed internally by BlackRock beginning in 1988, coinciding with the company's founding. The platform was created to provide comprehensive risk management and portfolio analytics capabilities for BlackRock's own investment operations and client services. Aladdin's development reflected BlackRock's recognition that proprietary technology would be essential for competitive advantage in the investment management industry. This strategic decision to build proprietary technology from the outset proved visionary, as it became a key differentiator that enabled BlackRock's rapid growth and market leadership. The foresight to invest heavily in technology infrastructure from the company's inception demonstrated exceptional strategic vision and set the foundation for BlackRock's future dominance in the asset management industry.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Aladdin evolved from an internal risk management tool into a comprehensive investment management platform. The platform expanded its capabilities to include portfolio management, trading, compliance monitoring, and performance analytics, becoming increasingly sophisticated and powerful. Aladdin's continuous evolution reflected BlackRock's commitment to technological innovation and its understanding of institutional investors' needs. This iterative development approach allowed Aladdin to grow in sophistication alongside BlackRock's expanding business and increasingly complex investment requirements, creating a virtuous cycle where technological capabilities enabled business growth, which in turn drove further technological innovation and platform expansion.

By 2013, Aladdin had grown to handle approximately $11 trillion in assets, including BlackRock's $4.1 trillion in assets, representing about 7% of the world's financial assets. The platform tracked approximately 30,000 investment portfolios and had become a critical component of global financial infrastructure. Under BlackRock's continued development and investment, Aladdin has expanded its capabilities and user base, now managing over $21 trillion in assets as of 2020. The platform is used not only by BlackRock but also by external clients including other asset managers, pension funds, and institutional investors who license the technology. This evolution from internal tool to industry-standard platform demonstrates Aladdin's exceptional scalability and BlackRock's ability to create technology solutions that serve broader market needs while maintaining competitive advantages for the parent company.