By Anirban Sen
NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Hedge fund Bridgewater Associates plans to expand its employee ownership initiative next year which will see more than 60% of staff own equity in the firm, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
The initiative, timed with Bridgewater’s 50th anniversary, marks a dramatic increase in employee ownership, as only about 1% of employees currently own stakes in the firm, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The move was announced in an internal memo sent to employees by Chief Executive Nir Bar Dea at a time when Bridgewater’s flagship macro fund Pure Alpha is on track for its best performance since 2010, according to the source.
“We are going to make more than half the company real owners of Bridgewater,” said Bar Dea in the memo. “This is something we have dreamed of for years. I know many in our community have long aspired to own a part of Bridgewater.”
Such a broad employee ownership model is typically seen at large technology companies and startups in Silicon Valley but is less common at top multi-strat funds, which typically prefer programs encouraging employees to invest part of their compensation packages into in-house money pools that grow with a fund’s success.
Reuters reported in October that Bridgewater’s Pure Alpha fund posted returns of more than 26% for the first nine months of the year, far exceeding the comparable 14% gain for the S&P 500.
“I’m happy for them and I’m happy for us,” Bar Dea said in his letter, “because this creates so many builder-owners and ensures that incentives are aligned to each other and to the value of the company – that when Bridgewater does well, we all do well, with no daylight between different groups because of different instruments.”
The letter said the changes are “essential for making sure Bridgewater is set up well for the future.”
Bridgewater currently has a headcount of between 1,200 and 1,300 employees.
TRANSITION UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP
The Westport, Connecticut-based hedge fund was founded by billionaire Ray Dalio in his two-bedroom apartment in New York in 1975. Bar Dea took over as CEO in 2022. Dalio has exited the firm, after selling his remaining stake in Bridgewater and stepping down from its board of directors this year.
Bridgewater’s transition to new leadership has been in the works since Dalio moved out of investment decision-making and into a mentorship role in 2020.
In 2023, Bar Dea unveiled a strategic overhaul by restricting new inflows into Pure Alpha and returning some assets to clients, betting that a smaller pool of money would allow the firm to better explore trading opportunities.
The firm, which currently has about $92.1 billion of assets under management, has recently bet on new strategies, including a $5 billion fund that uses artificial intelligence to make investment decisions and an exchange-traded fund that it launched with State Street Global Advisors.
Bridgewater’s other top executives include co-chief investment officers Karniol-Tambour, Greg Jensen, and Bob Prince. In January, Bridgewater promoted macro trader Ben Melkman to deputy chief investment officer.
The firm’s move towards the AI strategy came in 2018 after Bridgewater hired chief scientist Jas Sekhon. It rolled out its Artificial Investor tool in 2024. The Artificial Investor team is currently led by Sekhon and managing CIO Greg Jensen.
Global hedge funds, including stock pickers, generated returns of nearly 15% in 2025 to the end of November, Reuters reported this month.
Reuters could not determine how much of the company would be handed to employees or the terms of the offer.
(Reporting by Anirban Sen in New York; Editing by Megan Davies and Daniel Wallis, David Gregorio)
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