In 2012, Raymond Dalio appeared on the annual Time 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2011 and 2012 he was listed by Bloomberg Markets as one of the 50 Most Influential people. Institutional Investor’s Alpha ranked him No. 2 on their 2012 Rich List. According to Forbes, he was the 30th richest person in America and the 69th richest person in the world with a net worth of $15.2 billion as of October 2014.
Background
Ray Dalio was born in Jackson Heights, in the borough of Queens, New York City. An only child, his mother was a homemaker, his father a jazz musician who played clarinet and saxophone in night clubs such as Manhattan's Copacabana. When Ray was eight, the family moved farther out on Long Island to the suburban community of Manhasset. The young Ray Dalio enjoyed sports and playing with his friends, but disliked the routine of school, particularly rote memorization. He was far from lazy, however. For spending money, he held down a paper route, mowed his neighbors' lawns and shoveled snow from their driveways. From age 12, he worked as a caddy at the Links Golf Club.
Education
Given his unexceptional academic performance in high school, Ray Dalio had some difficulty finding a college. He eventually enrolled at C.W. Post College, a campus of Long Island University in nearby Brookeville.
Ray Dalio:
My situation was, I did terribly in high school. I hated high school. I just wouldn't study. I would remember that my mother would send me to my room and say, "You have to study," And I wouldn't study. I would do anything. I would be alone in the room. I would find something to think about or do and I wouldn't study, and I did terrible in high school. I barely got into a college. C.W. Post College, which people... it was a great college for me at the time. It was only then that I could begin to pick my courses. So then I began to pick things that were interesting to me, and then it was exciting. I loved it. And then you had the free time. Like college -- other school, most of the time you go in at a certain time, the bell rings, you go to the next class, it's packed in. In college there was freedom. I always loved freedom. I remember when I got my car, or whatever it would be, anything that brought me freedom I loved. So college allowed me freedom, the freedom to choose the subjects, the ones that I was interested in, the freedom of time. So I did very well in college and then I went to Harvard Business School.
Career
In the summer of 1971, between college and graduate school, he worked as a clerk on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. He later worked as the Director of Commodities at Dominick & Dominick LLC. In 1974, he became a futures trader and broker at Shearson Hayden Stone. In 1975, he founded the Westport, Connecticut based investment management firm, Bridgewater Associates which in 2012 became the largest hedge fund in the world, as it is today with over $160 billion in assets under management, as of October 2014.
Career Duration and Experience – More than 38 Years.
Achievements
#88 Forbes Billionaires, #44 Forbes 400, ranks #34 on the wealthiest person in United States and 88th richest person in the world.
Works
essay
A Template for Understanding What's Going On
(Dalio shared his understanding of the deleveraging process.)
2009
The Principles
2011
video
How The Economic Machine Works
(Dalio began sharing his "investment secrets" and economic...)
2013
Views
His views of life and investing are summarized in essay "Principles," which some media outlets have described as a manifesto.
Quotations:
"I believe that one of the best ways of getting at truth is reflecting with others who have opposing views and who share your interest in finding the truth rather than being proven right"
"There is giant untapped potential in disagreement, especially if the disagreement is between two or more thoughtful people"
"Be wary of the arrogant intellectual who comments from the stands without having played on the field."
"The pain of problems is a call to find solutions rather than a reason for unhappiness and inaction, so it's silly, pointless, and harmful to be upset at the problems and choices that come at you."
"Don't worry about looking good - worry about achieving your goals."
"The best advice I can give you is to ask yourself what do you want, then ask 'what is true' — and then ask yourself 'what should be done about it.' I believe that if you do this you will move much faster towards what you want to get out of life than if you don't!"
"More than anything else, what differentiates people who live up to their potential from those who don't is a willingness to look at themselves and others objectively"
"I believe that understanding what is good is obtained by looking at the way the world works and figuring out how to operate in harmony with it to help it evolve."
"Life is like a game where you seek to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving your goals. You get better at this game through practice. The game consists of a series of choices that have consequences. You can't stop the problems and choices from coming at you, so it’s better to learn how to deal with them."
"I believe that for the most part, achieving success — whatever that is for you — is mostly a matter of personal choice and that, initially, making the right choices can be difficult."
"If you can stare hard at your problems, they almost always shrink or disappear, because you almost always find a better way of dealing with them than if you don't face them head on. The more difficult the problem, the more important it is that you stare at it and deal with it.
"Unlike in school, in life you don't have to come up with all the right answers. You can ask the people around you for help — or even ask them to do the things you don't do well. In other words, there is almost no reason not to succeed if you take the attitude of One: total flexibility — good answers can come from anyone or anywhere. Two: Total accountability. Regardless of where the good answers come from, it's your job to find them."
"Watch out for people who think it's embarrassing not to know."
Membership
Board member National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.
Personality
Ray Dalio: It's what I do, I love being creative. I go there and I encounter...
Interests
Dalio's interests include the environment, global development and disaster relief, and the New York and Connecticut communities, but the largest portion of his philanthropy goes toward transcendental meditation, mind/body wellness, and education.
Ray Dalio, founder of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, receives the Golden Plate Award of the Academy of Achievement from David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group.
Ray Dalio, founder of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, receives the Golden Plate Award of the Academy of Achievement from David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group.
