Richard Falkenrath

Richard is Head of Geopolitics, where he oversees research on the challenges posed by geopolitical conflict to global investors and the sizable impact that government policy can have on economies and markets. He is also Chief Security Officer, a Partner at the firm, and a member of the firm's Operating Committee. Richard joined Bridgewater in 2014. Until 2019, as Chief Security Officer, he was responsible for all aspects of Bridgewater's security, including cybersecurity operations, physical security, internal affairs and investigations, business continuity, disaster recovery, intellectual property protection, and non-compete agreement enforcement. From 2020 until the end of 2022, Richard was Chief Administrative Officer, a role in which he directed Bridgewater’s operational risk management and administration; managed the firm's legal, regulatory, security, human resources, and real estate departments; and led Bridgewater's handling of the COVID pandemic.

From 2000 to 2004, Richard was a member of the National Security Council and White House staff, ultimately as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor. He served as Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism of the New York City Police Department from 2006 to 2010. Prior to the White House, he was Assistant Professor at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has also been the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Contributing Editor to Bloomberg TV.

Outside of Bridgewater, Richard is Senior Fellow for National Security at the Council on Foreign Relations; a member of the Trilateral Commission; a member of the Aspen Strategy Group; and a member of the Mission Committee of the Board of Governors of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and author or co-author of several books. Richard is a summa cum laude graduate of Occidental College, with degrees in economics and international relations. He received a Ph.D. from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, where he was a British Marshall Scholar.

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