The note below was emailed to employees to announce the company’s Operating Board of Directors.
Bridgewater,
This time of year is special in many ways — it’s a time where things begin to move a little slower, allowing us to spend more time with our families and friends after a year which demanded so much of us. It is also a time when we reflect back on all that we have been through together (the good and the bad) as a Bridgewater family and community, and recognize how these meaningful relationships are what matter most. And, it is a time when we begin to envision the new year ahead. With that said, we wanted to share with you some wonderful news as Bridgewater enters into the new year.
We are pleased to announce the official establishment of Bridgewater’s Operating Board of Directors which has been serving for many years in an unofficial capacity as an internal Board. This marks the next important step in the transition of leadership and ownership of Bridgewater from Ray to the great and well-established team of people who have been effectively running and overseeing Bridgewater.
As you know Ray stepped out of the CEO job in 2017 and he, along with Bob, Greg, Dave, and others, built up an internal Board of Directors to ensure that Bridgewater’s long tenured, large and experienced team of people making investment and management decisions also had great oversight at the Board level. Today, through a delegation of authority, Ray has officially empowered this Board as the new Operating Board of our parent company BAH (Bridgewater Associates Holdings, Inc.) to oversee our operating company.
We would like to introduce you to our Operating Board members, many of whom you already know as they play other key leadership roles or have served on our internal Board for many years, and several new faces who bring extraordinary expertise and perspective to our strong team.
The Operating Board is made up of the largest employee equity owners, independent outside directors, employee directors appointed by the partnership, and the CEO. The board is led by two of the independent directors who serve as the co-Chairs, Mark Bertolini, former CEO of Aetna, and Bridgewater internal Board Member for 3 years, and Mike McGavick, former CEO of XL Group Ltd. In addition to the Co-Chairmen, the Board is comprised of Ray Dalio, Bob Prince, and Greg Jensen, three additional independent directors — Sian Beilock, President of Barnard College, Columbia University, Margo Cook, Former President of Nuveen Advisory Services, and John Megrue, former CEO and Chairman of Apax Partners and independent director and co-chairman of Bridgewater’s internal Board for the last 5 years. There are also three employee directors elected by the partnership — Jim Haskel, Senior Portfolio Strategist and Editor of the Bridgewater Daily Observations, Noah Yechiely, Head of Equity Research and Osman Nalbantoglu, Co-Head of the Investment Engine, as well as CEO, David McCormick.
Mechanically, this important milestone is achieved via a delegation of authority by Ray to the Operating Board of Directors. Ray will remain the sole director of BAH, Bridgewater’s ultimate parent company, and maintains voting control.
We are working toward finalizing by February 14th, the terms that lay out the path to an ensuing official transfer of control to this new Board. We will make an announcement once those terms are established. With that said, given the importance of this moment, which reflects the culmination of years of hard work and preparation, we wanted to share this exciting news with you now.
You can find detailed bios of all the board members here, and in the new year you will have an opportunity to hear from the co-chairmen and independent directors.
Ray, Bob and Greg