One World Business
There used to be a consistent progression in the business world’s approach to philanthropy. You would start a business, make your fortune and then, later in life, take that fortune and put some of it towards making the world a better place. With profits being the major driver of business, there doesn’t always seem to be room for giving back at the same time. John Megrue, however, strongly believes that business and philanthropy can and should be blended and giving back should not be left as an afterthought at the end of a successful business career. For John, giving back has been focused primarily on the fight against HIV/AIDS. He is a founder of the BornFree Campaign, which is a campaign the stop the transmission of HIV from mother to child at birth.
28:05 | 2014
John Megrue is the Co‐Chairman of Bridgewater Associates, an investment management firm. Prior to joining Bridgewater Associates, John was Chairman and CEO of Apax Partners U.S., an independent global private equity advisory firm managing over $46 billion in private equity funds. From 1992 to 2005, he was a Partner at Saunders, Karp and Megrue, a mid‐market buyout private equity firm.
John currently serves on the Board of Global Citizen and is a Board member of Grameen America, the largest microfinance non‐profit in the U.S. that provides loans, savings programs, credit establishment and other financial services to women entrepreneurs living below the poverty line in the United States. John is also Vice Chairman of UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy's Office for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals. In addition, John is on the Board of Bridges Ventures, a U.S. social impact investment fund. He previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Cornell University.
As an active champion for extreme poverty eradication and the development of global health systems, with a particular focus on issues impacting women and girls, John founded and was Chairman of Born Free Africa, an initiative of the private sector to support the Global Plan towards the elimination of HIV infections among newborn children.
Tags: Grameen America, Born Free Africa,