A potential successor to BlackRock (BLK) CEO Larry Fink is reportedly leaving, narrowing the list of contenders to become the next boss of the world's largest money manager.

Mark Wiedman, who is a head of BlackRock’s global client business and member of the firm’s global executive committee, has chosen to pursue opportunities outside of the firm, according to a report from the Financial Times.

For years, investors have been wondering when the 72-year-old Fink is going to step down. He co-founded the firm in 1988 and built it into a financial giant that manages $11 trillion.

Wiedman was viewed as among the likely contenders to succeed Fink, along with chief operating officer Rob Goldstein, chief financial officer Martin Small, and BlackRock International head Rachel Lord.

Another recent high-profile exit of a potential Fink successor was Salim Ramji, who is now the chief executive of BlackRock rival Vanguard Group.

The FT report about Wiedman’s departure comes just ahead of BlackRock's release of fourth quarter 2024 earnings on Wednesday morning.

BlackRock is not the only Wall Street giant that generated some new succession drama on Tuesday.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) on Tuesday elevated Jennifer Piepszak to chief operating officer as part of a new management reshuffling, but the nation’s largest bank said that Piepszak doesn’t want to succeed Jamie Dimon as CEO.

The shake-up adds new uncertainty to the race to succeed the 68-year-old Dimon, the longest-serving big bank CEO and the only one left who called the shots during the 2008 financial crisis.

Piepszak had previously been considered one of the frontrunners to get Dimon’s job eventually.

At BlackRock, Wiedman oversaw the money manager’s efforts to assist governments and financial institutions with their troubled assets during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Wiedman also led BlackRock’s iShares ETF business as it grew from $500 billion to $1.7 trillion in assets under management.

His exit comes as the money manager makes a deeper push into alternative assets with three recent acquisitions.

In December it made a $12 billion bet on HPS Investment Partners, a firm run by three ex-employees of Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) that specializes in lending money to riskier companies.

Earlier in 2024 it agreed to buy London data provider Preqin for $3.2 billion and private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12.5 billion.

The purchase of Global Infrastructure Partners, which closed in October, was a bet on growing demand for new energy, transportation, and digital infrastructure projects in the coming years.