Ray Dalio: Founder of Bridgewater Associates

About Ray Dalio: Founder of Bridgewater Associates

Raymond Thomas Dalio (born August 8, 1949, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York) is an American billionaire investor and the founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds. He is the author of Principles: Life & Work (2017), on corporate management and investment philosophy, and The Changing World Order, on why nations succeed and fail. As of June 2026 he has a net worth of $21.5 billion, ranking 126th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Dalio is the son of Italian-American parents, the jazz musician Marino Dallolio and Ann, a homemaker. When he was eight the family moved to Manhasset on Long Island. He attended Herricks High School, earned a finance degree from C.W. Post College of Long Island University, worked as a clerk on the New York Stock Exchange and received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1973. At Harvard he and friends created the company that later became Bridgewater Associates; its goal was to trade commodities but it yielded little, though he later used the name for his hedge fund. After Harvard he moved to Wilton, Connecticut, trading from a converted barn, worked on the NYSE floor trading commodity futures, and was director of commodities at Dominick & Dominick. In 1974 he became a futures trader and broker at Shearson Hayden Stone. Sources: English Wikipedia (Ray Dalio, accessed September 2026).

Basic Information

Founder, Bridgewater Associates

Company Details

Bridgewater Associates

Hedge Funds, Investment Management

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