Billionaire investor Ray Dalio: I owe my success to having 'great humility' and 'great fear'

ray dalio

(Thos Robinson/Getty) Bridgewater Associates founder and co-chief investment officer Ray Dalio.

Ray Dalio is the billionaire founder and co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund with about $169 billion in assets under management.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria recently asked Dalio what he thinks is responsible for his personal success.

Dalio said that he partially attributes his success to keeping in mind how history repeats itself, and learning what decisions didn't work.

This approach, he said, requires both "great humility" and "great fear" as protections against hubris.

"People think that my success is ... because of what I know," Dalio explained. "It's not. It's due more to how I deal with not knowing.

"In other words, how I go look for where I might be wrong... I love to find people who could disagree with me and see it through their eyes. Smart, believable people, and I can see it through their eyes and I can consider, 'Is that right? Is that wrong?'"

This Socratic approach helps him learn more and make better decisions.

"So it's the dealing with what one doesn't know that's what's more effective than knowing," he said.

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