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Key Takeaways Ray Dalio is the billionaire investor who founded Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds.
He wasn’t a good student in high school because his “lousy” memory made traditional classes difficult.
He preferred to spend his time working odd jobs instead of focusing on school, including a golf caddying job that sparked his love for investing in stocks.
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio draws from his own experience with low grades when it comes to hiring new talent.
In a conversation with Harvey Schwartz, CEO of the Carlyle Group, on the CNN podcast, Dalio described himself as a “below average” student who was happy when he managed a C-minus on tests. High school was a difficult time for him because his “lousy” memory made traditional, test-heavy classes difficult, he added. Dalio, who founded the prominent hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, wasn’t interested in school. He preferred working odd jobs instead.
“I caddied,” Dalio said on the podcast. “And when I would walk around the golf course caddying for people, the stock market was hot at the time. So I would talk about stocks with them.”
With his caddy earnings, he decided to try investing.
His first pick was the only company he’d heard of trading for under $5 a share. “My logic was I could buy more shares, so if it went up, I’d make more money, which was dumb,” he said. The company was Northeast Airlines, which Dalio said he first bought at age 12. It eventually went bankrupt, but was later acquired, and the stock tripled. “And I got hooked,” Dalio continued.
Dalio previously told the sports media outlet Golf that the course he worked at was The Links Golf Club on Long Island, now defunct, and that among the men he caddied for were Donald Stott of specialist trading firm Wagner, Stott & Co., and George Leib, former chairman of investment bank Blyth & Co. Those early brushes with Wall Street helped shape his interest in markets.
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