A Bridgewater-owned mansion had a written policy for hiring strippers, a new book says

• Bridgewater employees hired strippers so often that the firm adopted rules around them, a new book said.
• The rules applied to events at a firm-owned estate in Connecticut, the book said.
• The book also said Bridgewater spent millions renovating a mansion frequented by founder Ray Dalio.

After-hours entertainment at one of the world’s largest hedge funds could get raunchy at times, a new book said.

Strippers were reportedly so common at a Connecticut mansion owned by Bridgewater that the company instituted a policy around them, according to Rob Copeland’s “The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend,” which came out Tuesday.

“Stripper Policy at The Lookout,” the rules read, according to the book.

“All guests are to be informed when making their reservation that there will be ‘Special Entertainment’ that night,'” read the document, according to “The Fund.”

The property, known as the “Lookout” by Dalio and the employees who hung out there, was near the Bridgewater headquarters and outfitted with a pool and Jacuzzi, the book said. The New York Times has also reported on the estate, writing in 2017 that Bridgewater employees “work hard, and party equally hard at off-site retreats sometimes held at the Lookout.”

Guests could stay overnight at the Lookout, but the primary bedroom was almost always reserved for Dalio, according to the book. Bridgewater spent millions of dollars to renovate the colonial estate, the book said.

The book described other employee perks beside the Lookout, as well, including access to a 45-foot “Rockstar Bus” that would transport workers from headquarters to bars, casinos, or one of Dalio’s properties, per “The Fund.”

With the perks came Bridgewater’s sometimes-brutal rating system that allowed employees to rate one another from 1 to 10, with profiles and ratings public for anyone at the company to view.

In October 2022, Dalio announced that he would step away from the helm at Bridgewater so the “next generation” could have their turn.

A Bridgewater spokesman didn’t specifically comment on the story’s account of strippers.

Instead, Bridgewater referred Insider to a lengthy statement Dalio made on the book that he posted on LinkedIn. In the statement, Dalio said: “The book should be taken for what it is, which is another one of those sensational and inaccurate tabloid books written to sell books to people who like gossip.”

“I suspect that most people won’t be drawn into the gossip and will continue to decide for themselves whether or not what I’m passing along is of value to them,” Dalio wrote. “If they like it, I will keep providing it. If they don’t, I won’t.”