DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: Who is behind most of the decisions these days?

This week’s “Down the Rabbit Hole” is going to be a stab in the dark at the term, “follow the money.”

And, I have decided to let the readers do their own research based on the information I provide.

Let me first start off by saying that all the time I hear how “Deep State”, the ruling elite, etc., owns everything.

From the people we listen to and the stories we are told we form our opinions – or do we? Are the politicians and the media choosing their narrative or following it as told?

Why shouldn’t we be able to believe the media – although most people I asked this past week both in the US and abroad in Europe looked at me like I had two heads on the topic of media truths.

So, I decided to do a little research.

Let me preface this by saying that last week in Prague, I met a few people who were at least part of the European elite, and I was told in a roundabout way if you want to know who owns the world, look at bloodlines (aka money).

My response, what about people with no bloodlines like Bill Gates, Fauci, US presidents – well, although they have power, they do not have bloodlines, you do the math.

I did some research on who owns what regarding the media and even the much loved Elon Musk.

So, let us look at who is directing the narrative these days and then think why and how?

My thoughts are if you take a photo and hang out with the devil – then at some point you have probably known him.

Have you ever heard of the companies BlackRock Inc. and The Vanguard Group?

Together these two companies own 18% of Fox; 16% of CBS; 13% of Comcast (which basically means NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, and the Sky media group), 12% of CNN, and 12% of Disney, which owns quite a few subsidiaries.

In short, these rival news stations are all owned by the same people/companies.

Since everyone has gone crazy over Elon Musk and Tesla, I thought I would research where he fits in, since he talks about many things.

Vanguard, Blackrock and Capital World Investors are among the top shareholders

of Tesla, with a combined 15% of its outstanding shares as of July of this year.

Everyone screams conspiracy theory about Pfizer these days, so I wanted to research that company’s top shareholders.

Making the top 10 list, you got it – Vanguard and BlackRock!

Then I thought I would look at who owns Microsoft.

Well, the Vanguard Group came in as the top shareholder, with BlackRock as the second top shareholder.

What about Amazon?

My head reels with the number of people who say, “Order it from Amazon,” which I never do because I am one of the old school who goes to the store and buys my provisions like we used to do in the early 2000s.

Sure enough, while the top individual insider shareholders of Amazon are Jeff Bezos, Andrew Jassy, and Jeffrey Blackburn, the top institutional shareholders include Vanguard and BlackRock.

It’s like a puzzle that fits together well, so then I researched Vanguard and BlackRock.

Vanguard is owned by what they say is its shareholders, setting it apart from most publicly traded investment firms.

The CEO and Chairman is Mortimer J. Buckley.

The company is the second-largest investment firm in the world after BlackRock, the biggest issuer of mutual funds worldwide, and the second-biggest ETF (exchange-traded funds)  issuer.

The powers that be here have done an excellent job in diverse investing – thus owning one heck of a lot of power through its more than $8 trillion dollar in assets under management and second only to BlackRock with $9.5 trillion.

The company is the largest mutual funds issuer in the world and the second-largest issuer of ETFs.

So, then what about BlackRock?

I found that company evolved from a “small startup” to a global conglomerate.

This market giant invests in experimenting in all areas, and as a result, it owns shares and voting rights in several of Europe’s largest firms, including those in energy, oil and gas, and banking as of July 2022.

Laurence D. Fink owns BlackRock Inc.

And, Vanguard is the major shareholder of BlackRock, Inc.

BusinessInsider.Com noted, “BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager, has become an increasingly influential Wall Street player in Washington, DC. The firm has hired notable policymakers over the years, and at least three leaders with the New York-based asset manager on their resumes now hold prominent roles in Joe Biden’s cabinet.”

It went on to report that  former BlackRock investment executive Brian Deese leads Biden’s National Economic Council, effectively serving as his top advisor on economic matters.

Biden also tapped Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, a former chief of staff to BlackRock chief executive and longtime Democrat Larry Fink, to serve as a top official at the Treasury Department. Meanwhile Michael Pyle, BlackRock’s former global chief investment strategist who had worked in the Obama administration before joining the firm, serves as chief economic advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris.

All my life when I’ve wanted to find out who owns who and why the words “follow the money” has been quoted.

Indeed! And while I am not saying that Mortimer, Fink, Blackrock, or Vanguard are doing anything wrong – I am saying that sometimes you really need to research who is directing the narrative, because money means you own the world.

Rita Cook is a freelance writer for The Ellis County Press. She can be reached at rcook13@earthlink.net.