Dalio has ‘throne’ a fit over WSJ story
Billionaire Ray Dalio lashed out at The Wall Street Journal on Monday for writing about his apparent refusal to hand over the reins of his investment empire to his handpicked successors.
“The Wall Street Journal just published an article about me and Bridgewater that is filled with intentional factual errors,” Dalio wrote on his LinkedIn page on Sunday. “It is one of those classic cases of false and distorted media.”
The Jan. 31 Journal story takes Dalio to task for continuing to rule his $160 billion hedge fund firm Bridgewater — despite having appointed other people as CEO in a 10-year succession plan that kicked off a decade ago.
The story claims, for example, that the Bridgewater founder repeatedly overruled one of his successors — co-CEO Eileen Murray — on whom to hire, fire and promote. Murray, who announced her resignation in December, told friends she was exhausted and couldn’t do her job anymore, the Journal said.
The story also describes Dalio as a combative boss, including the time employees questioned his decision to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss economic policy. Dalio reportedly blasted one dissenter with, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?,” the Journal said.
Dalio hit back, saying he is unable to make “unilateral decisions” as chairman and chief investment officer. He otherwise didn’t point to specific errors so much as blast journalism. “The Wall Street Journal and other publications don’t have investigative journalists write complimentary articles on people because those articles don’t sell, which is why our country has no heroes,” he said.
He also accused one of the writers of the piece, Rob Copeland, of a personal vendetta, saying he “interviewed at Bridgewater and wasn’t hired because he wasn’t up to doing the job.”
Through a Dow Jones spokesman, Copeland defended the accuracy of his reporting.
“It’s Ray’s fund. It will always be his fund,” a former Bridgewater staffer told The Post