Global Engagement and Diversified Relationships

Key Insight

Driven by curiosity, the founder embarked on a trip to Beijing in 1984, facilitated by connections in Hong Kong, marking the beginning of a profound thirty-plus-year engagement with China. Observing the rudimentary development of China's financial markets by an underfunded group in 1989, amidst political sensitivities, prompted a small donation and knowledge sharing. In 1994, Bridgewater China Partners was launched, an initiative to connect institutional investors with opportunities and American companies with Chinese ones, aiming to establish the first U.S.-based private equity firm in China, though it was eventually closed due to the overwhelming complexity.

Despite the closure of the China venture, the country maintained a significant presence in the family's life. A notable example is the founder's son, Matt, who, at age eleven in 1995, spent a year immersed in an all-Chinese school in Beijing, experiencing starkly different living conditions. This challenging yet transformative experience profoundly shaped his values, leading him at sixteen to establish 'China Care,' a charity for Chinese special-needs orphans, and later his company 'Endless,' focusing on computing in the emerging world, demonstrating the profound personal growth derived from global immersion.

Beyond China, the firm cultivated relationships with government investment funds and policymakers in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Australia, Russia, and Europe, broadening its global perspective. Significant interactions included a dinner with Lee Kuan Yew, Paul Volcker, and Bob Rubin, where insights into global leadership and world affairs were shared. Lee Kuan Yew, for example, rated Angela Merkel as the best Western leader, Vladimir Putin among the best worldwide, and Deng Xiaoping as the best overall. These diverse encounters, whether with world leaders or indigenous people in Papua New Guinea, reinforced the understanding that human greatness is not tied to wealth and underscored the invaluable benefit of understanding varied perspectives to inform decision-making.