Barclays Global Investors

…was the 2009 acquisition of Barclays Global Investors, which brought the iShares ETF business to BlackRock. It helped establish the firm as a dominant ETF provider just as the industry was beginning to grow and positioned BlackRock to become the world’s largest asset manager.

…was his decision to buy Barclays Global Investors in 2009, after the 2007–08 financial crisis, for $13.5 billion. The purchase included the iShares family of exchange-traded funds, which were a relatively new investment product at the time.