Hedge Funds Win Big Betting on China While Everyone Else Hit Snooze
KEY POINTS
- •At the start of 2025, hedge funds faced fears about China’s economic downturn and a potential US TikTok ban.
- •Despite concerns, Chinese companies aggressively increased stock buybacks and ByteDance secured a $350-$370 billion valuation.
- •Bridgewater, Tekne Capital, and Pinpoint's China-focused funds significantly outperformed industry averages for the year.
In a plot twist rarer than a polite internet comment section, hedge funds like Bridgewater ($92B boss), Tekne (Beeneet Kothari’s $1.5B baby), and Pinpoint ($3.4B flex) all laughed in the face of early 2025’s China doomsday alarm. Despite TikTok's US ban whispers and US vs China AI gladiator battles, China's buybacks surged, ByteDance flipped a majority US TikTok stake and earned a $350-$370B valuation from ex-Sequoia aka HSG, and startup DeepSeek chilled with Nvidia's newfound permission to sell H200 chips. Tekne even snagged a cool +50%, while Bridgewater convincingly bagged +34.2%. China-focused funds crushed the average 10.7% hedge fund return by nearly doubling it to 18%. Investors now clutch popcorn waiting for the US-China drama sequel, cautiously eyeing Taiwan and the micromanaging of chips.
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Watching hedge funds hype China’s economy explode like everyone else bet on TikTok while US politicians staged a ban-a-thon was peak financial theater for 2025.
Turns out betting on China’s stock blasts and ByteDance’s TikTok cash grab was the 2025 version of buying GameStop at the right time.
Bridgewater and Tekne proving you can ignore geopolitical panic like it’s just another annoying group text you keep muting.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 1/18/2026 | Author: Bradley Saacks
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