Cracks were starting to show in ESG's historically well-supported surface over the past year or so. Even Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, was starting to de-emphasize the importance of environmental, social and governance issues in a 2023 letter to investors. Despite BlackRock's recent $12.5 billion purchase of Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm explicitly focused on new energy and digital infrastructure, ESG critics point to a turning tide, where a more wide-ranging embrace of "transition investing" has broader appeal, less political stigma and potentially greater financial returns.