Ray Dalio gives up Bridgewater’s control as part of succession plan

(Reuters) -Ray Dalio, the billionaire investor who built Bridgewater Associates into one of the world’s biggest hedge funds, has handed over control of the $150 billion firm to a new generation of investors, Bridgewater said on Tuesday.

Dalio has tranferred his majority stake to the board but remains a “meaningful” owner of the $150 billion hedge fund, the company said. He has stepped down as one of three co-chief investment officers and will have a new title the firm said: founder and CIO mentor.

The 73-year-old billionaire stepped down as Bridgewater’s chief executive officer in 2017 and chairman at the end of 2021, following which the prolific hedge fund manager served in his current role focusing on mentoring the committee that has oversight over the firm’s investment strategies.

Dalio, who founded Bridgewater in 1975, will now hold a position as member of the operating board, senior investor and as a mentor to the firm’s CIOs.

A self-proclaimed sinophile, Dalio also enjoys huge popularity in China, where his company became the No. 1 foreign hedge fund house last year, even as Washington and Beijing were in the midst of a harsh auditing dispute.

(Reporting by Manya Saini and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)