#Ray Dalio promotes his book amid layoffs at Bridgewater

Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio fired off a bunch of tweets promoting his bestselling book on Friday — minutes after it was reported that his hedge fund axed staff amid steep losses.

Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, located in  Westport, Conn., handed out pink slips to dozens of employees on Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal, in what appears to be the biggest bloodletting in the fund’s 45-year history amid double-digit losses.

Soon after the report was published, Dalio — the founder and co-chairman of the world’s biggest hedge fund — fired off three tweets opining on the importance of building “meaningful relationships”  at work to get through “challenging times.”

The tweets are based on teachings from Dalio’s book of life and management philosophies “Principles,” which preaches “radical truth” and “radical transparency” with colleagues in order to promote better work outcomes. The book has sold well since it was first published in 2017 — despite criticisms of the author’s own management style.

In a statement, Bridgewater confirmed the layoffs by saying “The world is changing in dramatic ways and we are taking steps to adapt to it.”

According to The Journal, the majority of the cuts appear to be in back office departments including researchers, recruiters, and client services. Dalio’s pet project “core management” team, a group of younger Bridgewater workers who are trained in the way of “Principles,” also suffered cuts, WSJ said.

The $138-billion fund’s flagship Pure Alpha fund posted a first-ever annual loss in 2019 and is down over 13.5 percent through June, WSJ said.

Earlier this year, the WSJ described Dalio as an autocratic leader who once lashed out at an underling who questioned his decision to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss economic policy by saying, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?” Dalio called the report “fake” news.

And on July 13th, an arbitration panel ruled that Bridgewater had manufactured evidence against former employees while claiming they had stolen trade secrets to launch their own fund.