Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates.
Ray Dalio, the founder of
Bridgewater Associates, didn’t used to do many media appearances. But a series of big
magazine profiles that focused on the intense culture of his Connecticut-based hedge fund seem to have eased the billionaire out of his shell.
On Thursday, Mr. Dalio appeared on
Charlie Rose‘s program on PBS
to talk about the economy, and to address the accusations that
Bridgewater — which is governed by a set of rules laid out in Mr.
Dalio’s business manifesto,
“Principles” — is a cult of personality
“It’s a global macro firm,” said Mr. Dalio, who eschewed his usual
wardrobe of khakis and untucked shirts for a dark suit and red tie.
For more than half an hour, Mr. Rose and Mr. Dalio talked about the
state of the world economy. Mr. Dalio explained his oft-repeated
“deleveraging” theory, in which debts rise relative to incomes in a
nation until the country, under threat of default, takes stimulative
actions to bring the debt-to-income ratio back to more stable levels.
Mr. Dalio told the host he believed the United States is in a
deleveraging process, but said that economic catastrophe could be
averted if careful action is taken.
“The key is to spread it out as much as you can, to make sure it’s not disorderly” Mr. Dalio said of the deleveraging process.
Mr. Rose asked Mr. Dalio, who has pledged to give away at least half his wealth as part of a giving pledge engineered by Warren E. Buffett,
if he supported a so-called Buffett Rule that would raise taxes on the
top income brackets. Mr. Dalio said that he did support the plan, but
that he wanted to make sure his tax money was being put to good use.
“I’m going to give away a lot more than half my money,” said Mr.
Dalio, who made more than $3 billion in 2010. “I’d be happy to give that
to the government if the government put together programs that were
like I’m giving away to charity, in which I believe the money is
effectively used to help people.”
Mr. Dalio defended Bridgewater’s culture, which emphasizes radical
honesty and encourages employees to criticize each other, by saying that
it was “exactly the opposite of a cult.” He said that the firm’s
culture of institutionalized bickering actually made it more productive.
“If people who are disagreeing can say, ‘Why do we disagree?’ and
work through that conversation in an intelligent way to try to find out
what’s true, you can learn, you can make progress,” he said. “It can be a
fabulous thing.”
The Occupy Wall Street
movement, a go-to topic for journalists interviewing financiers since
the protests in Lower Manhattan began, also came up in the segment. Mr.
Dalio said he understood the frustration expressed by the protesters,
but added that he did not believe he had done anything to deserve the
ire of the 99 percent.
“I think I did everything right,” he said. “I did well when others
didn’t. I happen to earn one-fifth of the profits. I pay about a third
in taxes, I give away about a third, and I follow the law. And if I’m
doing something they think is incorrect, I’d like to know that.”
And despite his bearish outlook on the domestic economy, Mr. Dalio ended the interview on a caveat-laden note of hope.
“If we can keep orderly, and not argue with each other, and not do
disruptive things, and we don’t go down,” he said. “Maybe then it’ll be
O.K.”
( http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/bridgewaters-dalio-i-think-i-did-everything-right/)
You can watch the full intervew here
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11957
