Who Is Ray Dalio?

By Lyle Daly – Updated Sep 18, 2025 at 7:40 PM | Fact-checked by Frank Bass

Key Points

Ray Dalio emphasized diversification, advising on 15+ uncorrelated assets to lower risk.
Dalio's All Weather Portfolio includes a 7.5% gold allocation for inflation resilience.
Profit-taking and reinvestment in undervalued stocks are core to Dalio's rotating strategy.

Ray Dalio is a billionaire investor who started Bridgewater Associates. For over 40 years, he managed its assets directly and made it one of the most profitable hedge funds in history. Let's take a closer look at what Dalio has done at Bridgewater, the strategies that have made him a famous investor, and highlights of his illustrious career.

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Gold nuggets with a stock chart in the foreground. — Image source: Getty Images.

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Radical open-mindedness and radical transparency are invaluable for rapid learning and effective change. Learning is the product of a continuous real-time feedback loop in which we make decisions, see their outcomes, and improve our understanding of reality as a result.
Ray Dalio

Dalio bases his investment philosophy largely on his understanding of the economy or, as he calls it, the "Economic Machine." Investors can watch Dalio's 30-minute video How the Economic Machine Works for a primer on his view of the economy.

Dalio has published several books describing his philosophies and thoughts on economics. The most well-known is Principles: Life & Work, published in 2017, which describes the principles for success he developed at Bridgewater. His other books include:

Principles for Navigating Big Debt Crises (first published in 2018)
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail (published in 2021)
How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle (published in 2025)

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About the Author

Lyle Daly is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst covering information technology and cryptocurrency. Lyle has been a contributor at the financial services company since 2018. His work has been featured on USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, Fox Business, and Nasdaq. Before joining The Motley Fool, he wrote for financial brands including Intuit.

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Lyle Daly has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.