Billionaire Ray Dalio Cedes Control Of Bridgewater Associates

GREENWICH, CT — Ray Dalio, founder of Westport-based Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund firm in the world, announced on Tuesday that he's ceding control of the company after nearly 50 years.

Dalio, 73, a Greenwich resident, took to Twitter Tuesday morning and posted a lengthy thread discussing the transition.

"Today is a very special day for me and Bridgewater Associates because I transitioned my control of Bridgewater to the next generation and I feel great about the people and 'machine' now in control," Dalio said.

He noted that he started Bridgewater with two other people in his two-bedroom apartment in 1975. The company then morphed into a "multi-generation institution" with 1,300 people, he said.

Forbes said that Bridgewater has $150 billion in assets under management. Dalio is ranked 32nd on the Forbes 400 List, which ranks the richest people in America.

With a net worth of $19.1 billion, he's the richest person in Connecticut.

Dalio said on Twitter he sees Bridgewater in the hands of co-Chief Investment Officers Bob Prince and Greg Jensen, who have been with Dalio for 35 years and 25 years respectively. The two will be in charge of the investment side of Bridgewater, Dalio said.

Co-Chief Executive Officers Nir Bar Dea and Mark Bertolini will be in charge of the business side.

"It’s hard to overstate the importance of this moment for Bridgewater and Ray. Ray founded Bridgewater 47 years ago and, over a decade ago, set out on this journey to transition it," Bar Dea and Bertolini said in an email to Bridgewater employees on Tuesday.

"This process wasn’t easy and we didn’t always agree, but together, we’ve now finished something that very few firms or founders have accomplished, shifting from being a founder-led boutique to being an enduring institution led successfully by the next generation," the email continued.

Bar Dea and Bertolini said that going forward, Dalio will continue as a CIO mentor and an operating board member.

"Hopefully until I die, I will continue to be a mentor, an investor, and board member at Bridgewater, because I and they love doing those things together. That's a dream come true," Dalio said on Twitter.

According to his bio on the Bridgewater website, Dalio stepped down from being CEO in 2017, as chairman at the end of 2021, and transitioned his CIO role to focus on mentoring the Investment Committee, which is responsible for the oversight and evolution of Bridgewater’s investment strategies, in 2021.

Dalio has given more than $1 billion to philanthropic causes over the years, Forbes said. Dalio Philanthropies has supported microfinance and public education.