| In 1979, I was so broke that I had to borrow $4,000 from my Dad to help take care of my family. I had calculated that American banks had lent much more money to foreign countries than they would be able to pay back, and anticipated an imminent debt crisis. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. I didn’t fully understand the impacts of quantitative easing, and so I lost money for myself and I lost money for my clients. Looking back, it was the most painful experience I could imagine — but it was also the best thing that ever happened to me, because it taught me humility. |
Raymond Thomas Dalio is an American billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist who has served as co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates since 1985. He founded Bridgewater in 1975 in New York. Within ten years, it was infused with a US$5 million investment from the World Bank's retirement fund.
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The True Source of My Motivation
2025-11-21
The most important thing is that you have the life that you want to have. So, how you define success is important. There isn’t one path that’s right for everyone.
I was lucky in the sense that I fell in love with markets and playing the investment the game, which is what I’ve done for 50 years.
I recommend that people think about their own nature and what game they’d love to spend years playing. It’s okay to explore different paths—not everyone knows right away. Think of your journey as a process of discovery.
If you’re interested, you can find my full conversation with Bloomberg here. We discussed life, debt, global crisis, and the importance of investing in our oceans:
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