Asset manager BlackRock is backing away from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies as President Donald Trump’s administration fights such initiatives.

BlackRock’s leaders explained the shift and where the company is headed, Fox Business reported Friday.

“‘Delivering for clients requires attracting the best people from across the world,’ BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in a memo to employees Friday morning in a letter also signed by the asset management giant’s President Robert Kapito and Global Head of Human Resources Caroline Heller,” the outlet stated.

The company’s leadership said they want to continue creating a culture that is open to diverse individuals and perspectives:

The email goes on to discuss the recent number of “significant changes to the U.S. legal and policy environment related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) that apply to many companies, including BlackRock.”

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The top executives explained that they will not be renewing their representation goals in the workforce that expired in 2024, while pointing out that the company will continue “welcoming diverse talent” worldwide without requiring managers to interview a diverse roster of candidates for open positions.

BlackRock will be merging its Talent Management and DEI teams to create a global Talent and Culture team.

WATCH — President Trump Signs Multiple Executive Orders in Front of Cheering Crowd:

On the BlackRock website, its careers page titled “Our Global Talent & Culture” said:

We believe that maintaining a strong corporate culture is an important component of our human capital management practices and critical to our long-term success. Our culture is underpinned by five core principles that unify our workforce and guide how we interact with our employees, our clients, the communities in which we operate and our other stakeholders: (1) We are a fiduciary to our clients; (2) We are One BlackRock (1BLK); (3) We are passionate about performance; (4) We take emotional ownership; and (5) We are committed to a better future.

The recent news about BlackRock comes after Trump signed an executive order telling federal agencies to look into corporate DEI programs that could possibly be in violation of civil rights laws, the Fox report said.

The order that was signed on January 21 read:

Illegal DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.  Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American Dream should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.
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The Federal Government is charged with enforcing our civil-rights laws.  The purpose of this order is to ensure that it does so by ending illegal preferences and discrimination.

In Wednesday’s Breitbart Business Digest, the outlet’s John Carney wrote, “A dramatic and decisive shift is sweeping through corporate America, as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives crumble in the face of legal scrutiny, economic reality, and shifting public sentiment.”

“What was once considered the inevitable march of corporate progressivism is now being reversed with stunning speed,” he added.

A recent survey from Cygnal found that most Americans believe government hires should be based on merit and experience, a finding that goes against DEI efforts, per Breitbart News.

Click here to read more articles about BlackRock and here for more on DEI.