• Bar Dea and Bertolini form new dual leadership
• Dalio remains connected to Bridgewater: Board Member and “CEO Mentor”
Along with Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Benjamin Graham and Carl Icahn, Ray Dalio is one of the best-known US stock market legends. Born in New York, who, according to “Forbes”, currently has a fortune of 19.1 billion US dollars, is known for his razor-sharp market analyzes as well as for his bestselling books. He resigned as senior CEO of Bridgewater at the end of September – what does this mean for the future of the multi-billion dollar hedge fund?
Ray Dalio steps down as CEO of Bridgewater
As early as 1975, Dalio founded the Westport (Connecticut)-based investment company Bridgewater, which, thanks to precise analyzes using highly complex formulas, acquired an excellent reputation and accumulated enormous sums of capital. With more than $150 billion in assets under management, Bridgewater is the largest hedge fund in the world.
After many decades as Bridgewater CEO, Dalio now wants to pursue other activities. Dalio has been planning his retirement since 2010. On September 30th, the multi-billionaire resigned from his role as one of three co-CEOs. “Today is a very special day for me and Bridgewater Associates as I passed control of Bridgewater to the next generation. This moment of transition is the culmination of a 47 year journey,” hedge fund legend Ray Dalio tweeted.
New co-CEO Bar Dea: “Ray no longer has the last word”
Dalio had allowed various employees to participate in management in recent years. Gradually he gave up various posts at Bridgewater. However, the final decision-making authority was always with the 73-year-old. This is now changing. After twelve years of intensive searching, the multi-billionaire has found a successor whom he fully trusts. “Ray no longer has the last word. This is a big change,” quoted “Fonds Online” as Co-CEO Nir Bar Dea.
Handing over leadership is not a given for hedge fund managers. Many managers close the fund company when they resign, others like Carl Icahn turn it into a “family office” that only continues to manage the family’s assets.
Dalio remains on the board – dual leadership will lead the fund
However, Dalio remains connected to Bridgewater. Beginning October 1, he received one of 13 seats on the Bridgewater board under the designation “Founder and CEO Mentor”. Certainly his opinion will also play an important role in future decisions. “I hope that until I die I will continue to be a mentor, investor and board member at Bridgewater because she and I love doing these things together,” Dalio wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, Dalio makes no secret of the fact that he still feels a great bond with the company. The transfer of management responsibility is “the most beautiful thing there is,” said the multi-billionaire. “Bridgewater is my extended family – and now my family is fine without me.”
..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. (9/11)
– Ray Dalio (@RayDalio) October 4, 2022
Responsibility for the success of the “family” now lies in the hands of the two CEOs, Nir Bar Dea and Mark Bertolini. In the meantime, Bar Dea and Bertolini were able to look forward to a lavish outperformance compared to the overall market in the extremely weak stock market year 2022: By September 30, the well-known flagship fund “Pure Alpha Strategy” had gained 34.6 percent in value. On the other hand, the Bridgewater fund “All Weather”, which is aimed at more stable earnings, had to pay tribute to the stock market sell-off and fell 27.2 percent over the same period.
Stockbrokers will probably continue to hear from Dalio
Investors around the world will be excited to see if, without Dalio, Bridgewater continues to play as prominent a role in the financial world as it has for decades. But one thing should be certain: Dalio will continue to deliver his highly regarded assessments of the situation on the capital markets. He recently warned of the serious turbulence still to come on the international capital markets.
Editorial office finanzen.net
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