- Billionaire founder of Bridgewater Ray Dalio is stepping back from the $150 million hedge fund.
- Co-CEO Nir Bar Dea is already making changes to its famously radically transparent culture.
- He said the firm’s reputation is ‘not for everyone’ and is considering how to make it more inclusive.
Bridgewater Associates’ co-CEO Nir Bar Dea is looking to make some changes to its controversial culture as founder Ray Dalio takes a step back.
“The ideas are different,” Dea said speaking at the Bloomberg Invest event Wednesday. “What we’re going to pursue is different. How we’re going to evolve that culture is different. How we go about those fundamentals are different, the hunger is different, the energy is different.”
Dalio, who founded the firm out of his two-bedroom apartment in 1975, was as well known for his investment chops as he was for his management style. He enforced “radical transparency,” where employees are expected to be brutally honest with each other — talking behind someone’s back may even result in getting fired. He laid out his philosophy in his best-selling 2017 book, “Principles: Life and Work.”
