(Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc. awarded Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink additional pay perks known as carried interest tied to the asset manager’s major expansion in private markets, saying the co-founder has a key role in the firm’s long-term plans.

Fink will receive a percentage of carry distributions tied to a basket of the company’s flagship private investment funds, BlackRock said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

The compensation is justified by the “expansion of Mr. Fink’s executive responsibilities” and “expected role in realizing the significant long-term value creation opportunity” presented by BlackRock’s emphasis on private-markets growth, the firm’s board of directors said in the filing.

BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager, overseeing $11.6 trillion. Fink received about $26.9 million of compensation in 2023, a decline of 18% from the prior year, and he has a net worth of $1.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The BlackRock CEO’s pay packages so far have been a small fraction of those of the longtime bosses of private equity and recent compensation given to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. leaders.

Blackstone Inc. CEO Steve Schwarzman took home $896.7 million in 2023, one of the biggest annual payouts on record in high finance. That included $120 million mostly through incentive fees and carried interest. His net worth is $51.2 billion, according to the Billionaires Index.

In January, Goldman Sachs handed CEO David Solomon and President John Waldron $80 million each in retention awards and started a program to give them a slice of carried interest as the company tries to compete with alternative-asset managers.

Major Transformation

BlackRock’s new carry incentive is subject to a multi-year vesting schedule, with Fink forfeiting unvested compensation if he leaves the firm. Carry is a common pay incentive in the private equity world, and some politicians have criticized the favorable tax treatment it receives.

BlackRock is undergoing one of its biggest transformations, committing almost $30 billion across three acquisitions to become a major player in alternative and private assets and data.

The firm’s acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners has made BlackRock into one of the world’s biggest infrastructure investment firms, and its pending purchase of HPS Investment Partners will vault the firm into the highest ranks of private credit.