Founder of Bridgewater Associates; author and macro commentator
Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater in 1975 from his apartment and turned it into the world's largest hedge fund. His withdrawal came in stages: no longer CEO in 2017, no longer chief investment officer in 2020, no longer chairman at the end of 2021, and in August 2025 he sold his final stake and left the board. What remains is his second career as a writer and public interpreter of macroeconomic cycles.
Dalio thinks in long cycles of debt, currency and power, not in quarters. That makes him useless as a timing indicator but useful as a framework: his analyses of government debt, the role of the dollar and the US-China relationship have become part of the language the market uses on those subjects.
MBA at Harvard Business School; works briefly on the commodities floor.
Founds Bridgewater Associates from his New York apartment.
Launches the Pure Alpha fund that establishes his reputation.
Bridgewater comes through the credit crisis well thanks to his debt cycle model.
Steps down as CEO and publishes 'Principles', which becomes a bestseller.
Hands his voting rights to the board in October.
Sells his final stake in Bridgewater and leaves the board; publishes 'How Countries Go Broke'.
“Cash is trash.”
“He who lives by the crystal ball will eat shattered glass.”
Updated: 2026-07-23
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