Original title: (Ray Dalio 'officially retires': liquidates last holdings, resigns from the board)

Original author: Mickey Mouse, BlockTempo

On July 31, Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio sold his last shares and stepped down from the board, marking the end of the 'Dalio Era' that has lasted half a century in the hedge fund industry. This asset management company, managing approximately $92 billion, officially enters a new phase without its founder.

Dalio's complete retirement remarks

According to a report from (Bloomberg) on July 31, Ray Dalio started with $20,000 in 1975 and brought Bridgewater to the throne of the world's largest hedge fund. In 2017, he relinquished the CEO position, in 2022 he handed over daily management, in April 2025 he stepped down as co-CEO, and by the end of July, he completed the liquidation of his equity.

Dalio's retirement remarks emphasize: 'I see Bridgewater thriving without my participation, even better than when I was there,' showing his confidence in the company's future operations.

Ray Dalio's retirement remarks shared on X are translated as follows:

'Over the years, many people have asked me what it feels like to pass on Bridgewater after founding and building it over the past 50 years.'

My answer is: I feel incredibly excited! This has been an amazing and wonderful journey, and I can almost clearly remember every single moment. From starting Bridgewater with a friend while playing rugby in a two-bedroom apartment, to building it into one of the world's largest hedge funds, with a team growing to about 1,500 people and creating more profits for our clients than any other hedge fund, until now, on July 1, 2025, I completed the final step of handing over the company to the next generation of outstanding talent, whom I truly believe can ensure the company’s success for the next 50 years. What a journey! Inexpressible joy!

What excites me the most is seeing Bridgewater thriving without my involvement, even better than when I was there. I consider this the 'most perfect state' in the cycle of life. From my perspective as a 76-year-old who loves Bridgewater and the group of people I have worked with for decades, it feels like seeing my children remain strong and healthy in my absence, which is far better than a 76-year-old parent still having to care for their children.

What I see now is a 50-year-old Bridgewater, founded and led by me at 26, now managed by people 25 to 50 years younger than me, while my original partners who established the company with me remain in the leadership core. Especially Bob Prince, Greg Jensen, Karen Karniol-Tambour, and Nir Bar Dea, who are also on a beautiful trajectory within their own lifecycle. I see these vibrant individuals continuing to modernize Bridgewater's operations while still benefiting from the efficient principles that built Bridgewater, integrating new traditions created by the new generation.

The reason I love all of this is also that I can now freely engage in things that excite me and are meaningful. I particularly love passing on what I think is valuable to others, especially the principles that helped me succeed. I still love the game of investing and enjoy having more time to spend with family and friends, and I am very passionate about exploring the ocean and helping more people understand this world through media, just like Jacques Cousteau did back in the day (we are currently airing a show on Disney+ called (OceanXplorers), you can check it out).

Because passing on the principles that have helped me is one of my most important goals at this stage of my life, I want to share a few key principles that I believe have driven Bridgewater's success for 50 years—if you're interested, I'll also tell you where to learn more.

Work Principles

I believe the most critical work principle driving Bridgewater's success is:

· The 'people' and 'culture' you choose determine everything.

Choose people of noble character and outstanding ability, and build a 'principles-first' culture, where the pursuit of meaningful work and meaningful relationships is central, and this must be achieved through 'extreme honesty' and 'extreme transparency.'

· Create a culture where making mistakes is acceptable, but failing to learn from those mistakes is absolutely not allowed.

· Pain + Reflection = Growth.

If you want to understand all my work principles, they are compiled in my book (Principles: Life and Work).

Investment Principles

Key investment principles behind Bridgewater's investment success:

· Reality is like a machine; you must understand how this machine works and have a set of well-validated principles to deal with it.

· Understand 'causality,' because 'causes' precede 'effects,' and understanding causes can help you predict what will happen in the future.

· Clearly define your decision-making criteria, backtest them, systematize them, and use computers to execute, so you are acting based on a set of well-considered, validated strategies.

· Recognize: you don't know far more than you do know.

· Learn how to 'diversify risk,' as this can reduce risk to 20% of the original while not lowering expected returns.

· Find those 'smart people who disagree with you' and let them challenge your thinking with rational divergence, which will greatly increase your chances of making the right decisions and will teach you a lot.

· Ensure your decisions 'do not lead to unacceptable losses.'

If you want to delve deeper into my investment and economic principles, these contents will be published in my next book and are currently included in the (Dalio Market Principles Online Course) hosted by the Wealth Management Institute of Singapore. If you want to know my latest views based on these principles, you can also get them here.

(End of remarks)

New shareholders enter, reshaping the power structure.

Bridgewater's famous culture of 'radical transparency' and 'thought dictatorship' requires that any investment hypothesis undergoes rigorous debate and data verification.

Before leaving, Dalio gradually pushed for a depersonalized leadership structure, sharing decision-making power with co-CEOs Nir Bar Dea, David McCormick, and co-CIOs Bob Prince and Greg Jensen, aiming to avoid the impact of a single leader's failure. Now Bob Prince has become the largest individual partner, ensuring the continuity of the investment philosophy, while the 'Bridgewater Senior Research Program' collaborates with external experts to inject more perspectives into strategies.

As Dalio emptied his holdings, the Brunei Investment Agency became a strategic shareholder, acquiring nearly 20% equity and becoming one of Bridgewater's major institutional shareholders. The entry of international sovereign funds brings more capital and geopolitical networks to Bridgewater, which also means a more dispersed equity structure.

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