Ray Dalio, the billionaire investor who turned Bridgewater Associates into one of the world’s largest hedge funds, has handed over management of the $150 billion business to a new generation of investors, according to a statement released by the firm on Tuesday.
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On September 30, he handed over all of his voting rights to the board of directors and stepped down as one of Bridgewater’s three co-chief investment officers.
“Ray no longer has the final word,” co-Chief Executive Officer Nir Bar Dea said in an interview. “That’s a big change.”
Despite giving over his majority ownership to the board, Dalio is still a “meaningful” owner of the fund, according to the company. He has stepped down as one of three co-chief investment officers but will continue to serve as a chief investment officer mentor.
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The 73-year-old billionaire retired from his positions as chairman and chief executive officer of Bridgewater in 2021 and 2017, respectively. He then took on his current responsibilities, which include mentoring the committee that oversees the firm’s investment plans.
The final phase in the succession plan comes during a successful year for Bridgewater’s flagship Pure Alpha fund, which has gained about 35% in the first three quarters of this year and an average of 11.32% yearly since its inception in 1991, according to Reuters.
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Dalio, who is known for Bridgewater’s iconoclastic culture of “radical transparency” as much as he is for his ability to decipher market movements and generate large returns, wanted the company to outlive him and spent years seeking to find the right mix of investors and executives to steer the firm he founded in 1975.
Bridgewater made the most significant management changes in January when it named Bertolini and Bar Dea to replace David McCormick as CEO.
Throughout his career, retail investors and economists have closely followed Dalio’s economic views.
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“I have enormous respect for Ray,” said Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank. “He is a great thinker and an outstanding investor,” Dimon added.
Dalio is well-known for being a vocal critic of bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technologies. The hedge fund giant has stated frequently that he expects governments will eventually ban cryptocurrency.
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Dalio stated in February that he owned a “tiny percentage” of cryptocurrency in his portfolio because he wanted to “diversify.” However, he said, “It’ll be outlawed, probably by different governments.”
Dalio is also quite popular in China, where his firm became the number one overseas hedge fund house last year, despite a bitter auditing battle between Washington and Beijing.