Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund, is to be paid billions of dollars via an exit package he secured upon retiring from Bridgewater Associates last year, according to a report by the New York Times on Monday.
Dalio gave up control of Bridgewater in October, handing over the reins to Nir Bar Dea and Mark T. Bertolini as co-chief executives, but kept his seat on the firm’s board.
During internal discussions, Dalio, who is worth around $19 billion, agreed to step down if he received regular payouts through a special class of stock -– informally named “Ray’s shares” -– worth billions of dollars, the report said.
The agreement stemmed from some heated discussions between Dalio and executives, where he allegedly described the hedge fund as his “property rights” and wanted compensation for it, according to a number of unnamed current and former Bridgewater employees.
Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates from his Manhattan flat in 1975 and has since grown the hedge fund to manage $150 billion in assets today.
Bridgewater’s Pure Alpha fund delivered positive returns for the first three quarters of 2022, but then erased most of its gains in the fourth quarter, falling 13% and dragging its year-to-date gain as of December down to 6%.
Dalio did not respond to the New York Times’ request for comment.
Source: finance.yahoo.com