Who is David McCormick, the former hedge fund CEO running for Senate?

David McCormick has long traveled in elite financial and political circles, most recently leading the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates. He served as a high-ranking Treasury official in President George W. Bush’s administration and previously ran other businesses in Pittsburgh.

McCormick, 56, is using his background as a West Point graduate, Army veteran, and native Pennsylvanian — though one who until very recently lived in Connecticut — as the backbone of his Republican campaign for U.S. Senate. He’s one of the GOP front-runners in his first bid for elected office.

What is David McCormick’s background?

McCormick’s resume is filled with big jobs and name-brand institutions. Raised in Bloomsburg, he went to West Point and earned a Bronze Star while serving in the first Gulf War. McCormick then received a doctorate from Princeton University, and led a software business in Pittsburgh, FreeMarkets. He had several jobs in the Bush administration, including as the treasury department’s under secretary for international affairs, leading U.S. economic policy abroad during the 2008 financial crisis.

After leaving the Bush administration he was recruited to Bridgewater, and in 2019 he became the fund’s sole chief executive, after previously sharing that role.