Ray Dalio

Dalio began investing at age 12 when he bought shares of Northeast Airlines for $300 and tripled his investment after the airline merged with another company. He received a bachelor's degree in finance from Long Island University (C.W. Post College) and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1973.

After completing his education, Dalio worked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and traded commodity futures. 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 investment management firm Bridgewater Associates out of his apartment. The firm opened an office in Westport, Connecticut in 1981 and became the world's largest hedge fund in 2005. As of October 2017 it had $160 billion in assets under management. In 2007, Bridgewater suggested there might be a global financial crisis, and in 2008 Dalio published "How the Economic Machine Works: A Template for Understanding What is Happening Now", an essay assessing the potential of various economies by various criteria.

In 2011, he self-published a 123-page volume, "Principles", that outlines his philosophy of investment and corporate management based on a lifetime of observation, analysis and practical application through his hedge fund.

In 2011, Dalio was the subject of John Cassidy's article "Mastering the Machine" in The New Yorker.

In April 2011, Dalio and his wife joined Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's Giving Pledge, vowing to donate more than half his fortune to charitable causes within his lifetime. Through the Dalio Foundation, he has directed millions in donations to the David Lynch Foundation, which promotes and sponsors research on Transcendental Meditation. The Dalio Foundation has also contributed to the National Philanthropic Trust, to polio eradication projects, and to NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital. The foundation has also supported the Fund for Teachers, an initiative that supports professional learning fellowships for teachers.

In 2012, Dalio appeared on the annual Time 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2011 and 2012 Bloomberg Markets listed him as one of the 50 Most Influential people. Institutional Investor's Alpha ranked him No. 2 on their 2012 Rich List.

In 2012, Dalio received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, during the International Achievement Summit in Washington, D.C.

According to American business magazine Forbes, Dalio has an estimated net worth of USD$18.6 billion as of July 26, 2020, making him the 69 richest person in the world and 26 on the Forbes 400 list. In 2014 he reportedly earned $1.1 billion, including a share of his firm's management and performance fees, cash compensation and stock and option awards.

In 2017, Simon & Schuster published Principles: Life & Work. The book was a New York Times #1 bestseller and Amazon's #1 business book of 2017. Dalio discusses his background as a backdrop for his takeaways about life and work. He has announced that he will write a second volume, Principles: Economics & Investing.

Dalio was co-CEO of Bridgewater for 10 months before announcing in March 2017 that he would step down as part of a company-wide shake-up by April 15. The company had been in a seven-year management and equity transition to find a replacement. Jon Rubinstein, co-CEO of the fund, was announced to step down with Dalio, but would retain an advisory role. On April 7, 2019, Dalio said on 60 Minutes that income inequality in the United States was a national emergency requiring reform.

In 2018, OceanX, an initiative of the Dalio family, and Bloomberg Philanthropies committed $185 million over a period of four years to protect the oceans.

In July 2019, Dalio called for a reform of capitalism and described wealth inequality as a national emergency. In November 2019, Dalio posted a blog entry stating that excess capital, unfunded social liabilities, and government deficits have created a recipe for disaster, in what he called a "paradigm shift".

The Dalio Foundation was part of a group of foundations supporting the 2018 launch of TED's Audacious Project, an initiative to fund social entrepreneurs working to solve global issues. In March 2019, Dalio was named one of the highest-earning hedge fund managers and traders by Forbes.

In 2019, Dalio pledged $100 million to help public schools in Connecticut.

Dalio has sat on NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital's board of trustees since 2020. On October 13, 2020, NYP launched the Dalio Center for Health Justice, a research and advocacy organization, which will focus on reducing differences in access to quality health care that overwhelmingly affect communities of color.