Bridgewater Associates is the world’s largest fund now, and Ray Dalio is regarded as one of the greatest innovators in the finance world.
But in 1975, Dalio was fired in his job and started his hedge fund company in his New York apartment.
Bridgewater started out as a wealth advisory firm, and did so for numerous corporate clients, mostly from Dalio’s job at Shearson Hayden Stone.
Within years, Bridgewater grew quite fast and signed on larger clients, including the pension funds for the World Bank and Eastman Kodak.
The name Bridgewater arose because he initially attempted to sell commodities from the U.S. to other countries, therefore, they were ‘bridging the waters’.
In this video, Dalio talks about how he founded Bridgewater Associates when he was only 26 years old.
Source: Finance Jane.
