Well, well, well, it looks like BlackRock’s home improvement gamble just got condemned by the inspector. BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. went all-in on Renovo Home Partners in 2024, a Frankenstein’s monster cobbled together from regional remodeling outfits like Woodbridge Home Solutions and Minnesota Rusco, only to watch it collapse into Chapter 7 bankruptcy by November 2025 with over $100 million in debt. BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. quietly marked its entire investment down to a crisp $0.00 last week, essentially admitting they won’t see a dime back from this fixer-upper-turned-money-pit. Nothing says “robust private credit valuations” quite like a complete write-down within a year, serving as yet another reminder that even the smartest money in the room can pick a total lemon, especially when it comes with crown molding and a fresh coat of regret.
BlackRock Impact Opportunities
Ah yes, BlackRock Impact Opportunities, the fund that promised to “accelerate positive economic outcomes for undercapitalized communities” while generating those sweet “strong risk-adjusted market-rate returns,” turns out you can’t always have your ESG cake and eat it too. After pumping $90 million by a convertible preferred equity investment into Tricolor back in 2021 (a “mission-driven, AI-powered” subprime car lender for “credit invisible Hispanics” that was somehow both a certified Community Development Financial Institution and a total disaster waiting to happen), BlackRock watched their do-gooder darling crash into bankruptcy in September 2025 and promptly told employees they’re shuttering the whole fund to new investments. So much for that SaaS business unit and rapidly expanding mission, apparently “impact” investing sometimes means impacting your own balance sheet when the AI-powered wheels fall off. Nothing screams “social impact” quite like a subprime lender going bust and taking your feel-good fund down with it.
Oh, Sonder, the SPAC darling that somehow convinced Marriott International to hitch its wagon to a boutique hotel operator limping along on $27 million in cash; has officially face-planted into Chapter 7 liquidation as of November 2025, leaving behind an estimated $1-to-$10 billion in both assets and liabilities (quite the range, guys). BlackRock, ever the glutton for punishment in 2025, found itself listed not only as a creditor through multiple funds like BlackRock Global Allocation and BlackRock Global Long/Short Credit, but also as a 10%+ equity owner alongside other illustrious bagholders like Senator Global Opportunity and Atreides Foundation. Marriott, in a display of truly tragic timing, threw money at Sonder’s “critical short-term obligations” the day before terminating their licensing deal. This was basically paying for the privilege of getting dumped, while landlords and employees are now chasing unpaid rents and wages from a company that decided leasing buildings and pretending to be Airbnb’s cooler cousin was a sustainable business model.
