There’s a little-known secret that 75-year-old billionaire Ray Dalio credits for his success: transcendental meditation.<\/p>\n
Dalio is best known for founding Bridgewater Associates in 1975 and building it into the world’s largest hedge fund<\/a>, with $97.2 billion<\/a> in assets as of 2023. He is worth over $16 billion at the time of writing, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index<\/a>, with most of his fortune coming from his $6.65 billion stake in Bridgewater.<\/p>\n “The best advice that I could give anybody, I think, it would be to meditate, and that’s because it gives you a calmness and equanimity,” Dalio told CNBC<\/a> earlier this week. “Whatever success I’ve had in life has been more due to my meditating than anything else.”<\/p>\n Related:<\/b> Worried About the Market? Here’s How Warren Buffett, Ray Dalio, and Harvard University Protect Their Portfolios<\/a><\/p>\n Dalio disclosed in 2021<\/a> to the outlet that he practices transcendental meditation, which involves repeating a mantra or a short sound or word for a set amount of time, for twenty minutes, twice a day. The aim is to focus the mind and help the practitioner achieve a state of deep relaxation.<\/p>\n Dalio says that each 20-minute meditation session feels like a “20-minute vacation” that calms him down and helps him make better decisions. He comes up with creative ideas during his sessions, emerging with a clearer mind.<\/p>\n Research<\/a> has shown that transcendental meditation can reduce trauma symptoms and improve mental health. A March 2020 study<\/a> published in the journal “Brain and Cognition” showed that participants who practiced transcendental meditation felt less depression, anxiety, and stress.<\/p>\n Dalio first started meditating in 1968<\/a>, seven years before founding Bridgewater Associates. He was inspired by The Beatles, who popularized the practice<\/a> in 1967. Dalio sustained the practice for the following five decades of the hedge fund’s growth before stepping down as co-CEO in 2017. Under his leadership, Bridgewater established a management style called “radical transparency<\/a>,” which means that all meetings are recorded and available to the entire organization and constructive criticism of colleagues is encouraged.<\/p>\n Related:<\/b> This ‘2-Minute Rule’ Will Help You Brainstorm the Best Ideas, Says a Hedge Fund Manager Who’s Worth $15.4 Billion<\/a><\/p>\n Dalio isn’t the only billionaire who swears by meditation. Virgin Group founder Richard Branson meditated 30,000 feet in the air on the world’s first meditation flight<\/a> with Virgin Australia in 2018. The same year, the billionaire introduced<\/a> a meditation, sleep, and stretch room in the London Virgin office.<\/p>\n Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey shared in a February 2025 episode<\/a> of the “In Good Company” podcast he used to go on a 10-day silent meditation retreat every year for five years before the pandemic. At these retreats, he would meditate from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. and stop speaking entirely.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.entrepreneur.com\/images\/misc\/1742589967_Ray-Dalio-GettyImages-2154149172.jpg?width=1000\")
Ray Dalio. Photo by Dia Dipasupil\/Getty Images<\/i><\/sup><\/p>\n