Ray Dalio will secretly get billions of dollars from Bridgewater for agreeing to retire without a fight, report says

• Bridgewater has secretly arranged to pay Ray Dalio billions of dollars via special stock to get him to retire, per the New York Times.

• It took six months of negotiations to settle how much money the hedge fund was willing to pay Dalio to walk away, according to the report.

• The billionaire founder of the $150 billion fund Bridgewater stepped down in October, but kept his spot on its board.

Ray Dalio, billionaire investor and founder of the world's biggest hedge fund, will receive share payments worth billions as part of his retirement package from the company last year, according to a report by the New York Times.

Bridgewater Associates has secretly arranged to pay its founder regular stock payouts informally dubbed "Ray's shares" as part of his exit package, the report said Monday, adding billions of dollars to Dalio's existing net worth of $19 billion.

Negotiations took six months to settle how much money the hedge fund was willing to pay Dalio to walk away, the report said. Discussions were reportedly heated with Dalio laying ownership to the company as his "property rights," and therefore wanting compensation for it, the report said, citing unnamed current and former employees at Bridgewater.

The founder of the $150 billion fund Bridgewater gave up his co-chief investment officer role and voting rights as part of his succession plan in October, handing over the reigns to Nir Bar Dea and Mark T. Bertolini as co-chief executives, but kept his spot on the firm's board.

Both Dalio and Bridgewater are known for practicing "radical transparency" so business affairs are often openly argued and discussed, but neither the founder nor his company has disclosed the financial details of his exit.

Bridgewater did not immediately respond to an Insider request for comment.

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