Yet the tight-knit, insular nature of the firm, where many employees join right out of college, and often turn to each other for companionship well beyond the confines of the office, was about to cause trouble for the new boss.
Within weeks of Bar Dea's promotion, a previous romantic relationship with a colleague burst back into view. Paul Ross — an executive pushed out in Bar Dea's first major corporate overhaul — accused the company of favoritism, age and sex discrimination, after Bar Dea's former girlfriend Erin Miles and her ex-fiance Sean Macrae replaced him in the shuffle.
The accusations spurred a board-level investigation in April. The review, conducted by law firm Clarick Gueron Reisbaum, found there was no merit to Ross's claims, according to people familiar with the process.
The relationship between Bar Dea and Miles was not kept secret from management or fellow employees, and no one disputes certain facts. The two first got involved around 2016, when Bar Dea had been at Bridgewater for about a year and Miles had been there for seven. The relationship ended a few years ago, according to people at the firm.
Yet the recent incident, based on interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the firm, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the episode, offers a rare window into the distinctive culture that evolved under its iconoclastic founder. It also highlights the difficulties Bridgewater, historically led almost exclusively by men, faces in navigating workplace relationships as the company promotes more women into its top ranks.
While Ross brought a formal internal complaint, other employees have privately expressed concern to colleagues about the optics of the management changes, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Bridgewater Co-Chairs Margo Cook and Mike McGavick said in a statement that a former employee asserted that one of "our best people, a woman with over 14 years of experience and outperformance at the company, was promoted for reasons other than her extensive qualifications," even though he had previously praised her. "To advance his own self-interest, he perpetuates deeply harmful dynamics that have been used against the most capable people, and women specifically, since the beginning of time."
Ross didn't return calls seeking comment.
During the four or so years of their relationship, Bar Dea and Miles both climbed quickly through the ranks.
By 2019, he was co-head of the investment engine — Bridgewater-speak for research, trading and portfolio construction — one of the top jobs at the firm reporting to Greg Jensen, co-CIO. Miles, 36, had risen to co-head of equities research.
She had been named a partner by 2021 and would later join the investment committee. Bar Dea had jumped to deputy CEO. He became co-CEO in 2022, just seven years after joining.
Because of their prior relationship, Bar Dea isn't involved in any decisions around Miles' pay or promotions, according to people familiar with the firm's internal practices.
Previously, Miles had been engaged to Macrae, 37, who joined the firm in 2008. Macrae, who's also a partner, had been co-head of research analytics and led Bridgewater's currency investment and China research. Macrae is now married to another Bridgewater employee, who until recently had been Bar Dea's chief of staff.
In March, Bar Dea and other members of the leadership team undertook a major restructuring that involved firing about 100 people, or roughly 8% of the staff. As part of the reshuffle, the firm aimed to fill management positions in its investment business with employees who had risen through that unit, the people said.
Ross, a 43-year-old who worked at Bridgewater for two decades and met his wife there, was replaced by Miles and Macrae as co-heads of the investment engine, the same role Bar Dea previously held.
The firm's flagship Pure Alpha II fund has annualized about 3.5% since the start of 2012. Hedge fund assets fell to $97 billion as of June, according to Pensions & Investments, down from about $126 billion a year earlier.
