Harvard Kids ♥ Dalio

Ray Dalio’s firm Bridgewater Associates continues to bulk up and the best-of-breed hiring our of Harvard and Yale has become noticeable.

Dan Gross chronicles the two-way love affair between the zen master and the Ivy kids at the Daily Beast:

Bridgewater, which has 1,300 employees, isn’t for ex-jocks or day traders. Rather, it tends to attract—and look for—self-styled intellectuals and deep thinkers who like constructing arguments as much as they enjoy constructing portfolios. It’s “the thinking Yalie’s destination,” as one recent Yale graduate put it. Undergrads at Harvard report that the scandal-free firm is more desirable than Goldman Sachs, previously the ne plus ultra for young grads on the make. “Bridgewater is very popular because it is one of the few hedge funds that will accept people right out of college,” says a Harvard undergraduate who interviewed with the firm. “Also, the hours tend to be better. In investment banking you’re working 100 hours a week, and at hedge funds it is more like 70.”

Wait til they see the new life-size Lego adventure set he’s building, complete with koi ponds and aquatic helipads and such.

Confession: I’m a full-blown fan of Ray’s and his Principles and his policy of ego-free inquisitiveness and all the rest, he’s a hero. But it’s all starting to seem very Stadium Naming Rights-esque to me…

Sources:

Bridgewater May Be the Hottest Hedge Fund for Harvard Grads, but It’s Also the Weirdest (Daily Beast)

Bridgewater proposal calls for helipad, recreational barge (Stamford Advocate)