Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio Spreads His Gospel of ‘Radical Transparency’
You could say that Mr. Dalio was applying one of his very own rules, known internally as Principle 188: “If you make a plan, follow through!”
Over four decades, Mr. Dalio, 68, has built Bridgewater, which has $160 billion in assets, into the
largest hedge fund firm in the world — bigger than the next two largest hedge funds combined.
194, only “believable” people “have the right to have opinions.”
James Cordes, who was hired several years ago as an internal adviser to the Bridgewater
management committee, said Mr. Dalio, “was a purist; you had to go all in.”
Mr. Dalio has talked about the firm as a place devoid of office politics, where employees don’t talk behind each other’s backs.
Of his rules, he writes in his book, “I don’t expect you to follow them blindly.” The firm said, “While there could be some concern
that media distortions might impact recruiting, the firm just had one of its best recruiting classes ever.”
Bridgewater also notes that business leaders like Bill Gates and Jamie Dimon have praised Mr. Dalio’s book.
“Every critical thing you’ve heard about Bridgewater could be true
and it still doesn’t take away from the basic project itself,” Professor Kegan said,
Mr. Dalio was contributing to “ as dramatic a transformation as the industrial revolution,”
he added, referring to the Bridgewater founder’s vision of the future of work.
