BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard Group each respectably manage trillions of dollars in asset, private equity, and debt. They're independent firms but each own substantial shares in one another. Together these 3 firms are major shareholders in FAANG (big US tech) and mainstream US news agencies. BlackRock alone has disclosed through their latest SEC filings that it holds stakes in 5,387 companies globally. https://fintel.io/i/blackrock https://ecell.iitm.ac.in/blog/post/above-the-fold-a-company-...

If managing clients' shares gives them such colossal power, how come the founder of Vanguard was worth less than the founder of In-N-Out Burger?

The Medici Family was powerful because they were bankers of the papacy, i.e., they managed the Pope's finances.