Why Ray Dalio Credits Meditation as the Secret to His Success
How a Transcendental Meditation practice became the decision-making tool behind the world's largest hedge fund
By: Sunya Tao-Tzu | Date: July 27, 2026 | Read Time: 7min
Opening
As the leader of your company, there are tools you rely on that you’d never operate without - from data, to systems and advisors. Ray Dalio credits much of his success, including building the world's largest hedge fund managing billions in assets, to a tool few leaders would put on that list. (1,2)
It’s the same practice that rippled through Wall Street, and is practiced by other billionaire founders like Marc Benioff and Oprah Winfrey; and multi-millionaire founders like Arianna Huffington, to name a few.
In this article you'll find the exact breakdown of this essential decision-making tool, how it brought clarity and composure under high pressure situations for Ray Dalio and his company, and how it became a professional edge to the world’s top leaders, You’ll understand the operating advantage you can implement, and the one detail about this practice that Ray Dalio utilized that set his results apart.
How Ray Dalio Discovered Transcendental Meditation
Meditation as a tool to success may be something less spoken of, but it isn’t new. When The Beatles traveled to India in 1968, Ray Dalio was only a young trader in New York at the time, and when he saw them on TV the thing that caught his attention wasn’t their music, but the practice they had flown across the world to learn.
When asked, decades later, for the secret to his own success, he pointed back to what he learned from The Beatles' teacher, calling it "probably the single most important reason for whatever success I've had." (1)
If you read my first article on the spiritual mentors behind history's most influential leaders, you already know the teacher behind this meditation technique: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of Transcendental Meditation, whose work with The Beatles brought Eastern practice into the Western mainstream. What most people don't know is that the same lineage runs directly into the world's largest hedge fund, and that Dalio's version of the story contains a detail almost everyone misses - something most people trying this on their own never do. We’ll get into that later.
How Ray Dalio Meditates
Dalio learned Transcendental Meditation in 1969, six years before founding Bridgewater. (2) His practice is simple: twice a day he sits with his eyes closed and silently repeats a mantra (a repeated phrase) for 20 minutes, once in the morning and once before dinner. (2)
He describes each session as a "20-minute vacation,” that allows for a reset which eases anxiety and clears the way for better decisions. (2) He explains meditation helps him stay calm in the face of chaos, "just like a ninja in a street fight." (3) This is honestly something every leader can benefit from.
But the part that matters for anyone leading at scale is that Dalio doesn't describe meditation as relaxation, he describes it as an essential decision-making instrument. Ideas surface during his sessions, he believes because the practice opens a channel to the subconscious, where creativity lives. (2) And as recently as late 2025, he reaffirmed on the Odd Lots podcast that meditation gave him the equanimity to step back and see the full arc of events rather than getting caught in the noise. (4) Something essential for high stakes moments, to which a pivotal one he faced was in 1982.
How Meditation Helped Ray Dalio Recover From His 1982 Collapse
In 1982, after founding Bridgewater, Dalio made a catastrophic call. He was certain the economy was headed for collapse, predicting a depression. Instead, the markets soared, which brought him to a great loss. A significant amount of money for himself and his clients was lost, he had to lay off all of his employees - except himself, and eventually had to borrow $4,000 from his father to cover family bills. (5)
What he credits as the tool that gave him the equanimity to face his failure, and the clarity to examine his mistakes without being consumed by them, so he could rebuild his thinking from the ground up, was Transcendental meditation. (5) It’s his famous formula put into action: pain plus reflection equals progress.
From Private Practice to Company Infrastructure
The same inner practice that helped him rebuild his company, eventually led him to do something almost no leader has done before, build it into his company.
Around 2008, Dalio offered every Bridgewater employee a customized Transcendental Meditation course, of which hundreds of Bridgewater's employees completed the training, many meditating twice daily, and the firm built dedicated meditation rooms into its offices. (6, 7)
Bridgewater is famous for radical transparency, a culture where every idea is stress-tested and nothing survives on sentiment. Inside that culture, meditation wasn't a wellness perk, it was a skillset the firm invested in, which counterbalanced the intensity of the work and was a tool for clearer thinking.
How Meditation Spread Across Wall Street
The practice that became part of his company culture soon began spreading across the industry.
After his 2011 profile in The New Yorker, whenever journalists asked about his secrets to success, he pointed to meditation. (6) Over the following years, the David Lynch Foundation (the nonprofit behind much of Transcendental Meditation's spread) taught nearly 2,500 professionals through its meditation center, with over a thousand in 2016 alone, and roughly 55 percent came from Wall Street. (6) Firms that had never called before began requesting corporate programs for their teams. (7) The same programs soon reached beyond banks and hedge funds, to running in schools, hospitals, and even professional sports teams. (15)
Other CEOs and Leaders Who Meditate
Meditation's benefits reach far beyond finance. Many well-known leaders credit it with supporting their success, some as a personal practice, others by building it into their companies:
Marc Benioff, founder and CEO of Salesforce, practices daily meditation and even installed "mindfulness zones" on every floor of Salesforce's offices, which are spaces where employees set their phones aside to clear their minds, allowing for clearer thinking and innovation. Benioff credits the practice with keeping a "beginner's mind,” which allows him to approach familiar problems without assumptions, something he says informs his leadership. (8)
Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, told Harvard Business Review that daily meditation carried him through the company's darkest days and helped him make more compassionate decisions. (9)
Oprah Winfrey, whose work with spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle we covered in depth in our first article, also learned Transcendental Meditation from the same teacher as Dalio. (10)
This same pattern is even recognized in Harvard Business Review, where leadership educator Matthias Birk has described meditation as helping leaders see situations more objectively, transcend ego-driven reactions, and form deeper relationships. (11) This is exactly what separates good decisions from expensive ones.
Ray Dalio's Meditation Teacher: Bob Roth
A detail that almost everyone misses, is that Dalio didn't learn his practice from a book or on his own. He learned it from a teacher which he kept for over a decade - Bob Roth, CEO of the David Lynch Foundation. (12) Dalio has publicly called Roth the best teacher he knows. Roth trained directly under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the same teacher of The Beatles, and privately taught not only Dalio and Oprah Winfrey, but also Tom Hanks, Katy Perry, and Jerry Seinfeld, among many others. (13)
The practice is simple, and Dalio could have learned the technique once and moved on. But instead, one of the most rigorous decision-makers alive has maintained a private teaching relationship with Roth for more than ten years. This allowed a relationship with someone who knows his inner terrain, someone who can meet him in the specific decision, the specific season, or the specific pressure being carried that quarter. The technique may be learnable anywhere, but when it’s combined with the depth a relationship brings it carries with it a deeper advantage point and precision to all that meditation has to offer.
It's the same reason these leaders retain the best legal counsel and the best capital advisors. Their inner world simply gets the same treatment as everything else that compounds.
The Benefits of Meditation for Business Success and Why It Matters
Ray Dalio talks about how his practice brings equanimity, creativity, and better decisions; and Roth describes the practice the same way, as a tool for accessing a calm that's already in you. (14)
At the highest levels, inner work is measured the way everything else is measured, by what it produces. This included: clearer thinking under pressure, decisions made from a grounded perspective rather than reaction, and the ability to see the whole arc or bigger picture, while others are engulfed in the noise of whatever is happening.
Meditation may sound like an accessory to many, but the world’s most in-demand operators don’t use it that way. They practice it because it works, and because the alternative is making nine-figure decisions from a reactive state.
The practice may be simple, but the state it produces requires mastery within. That's why one of the busiest men in finance kept a teacher for over a decade rather than one weekend course or one quarter in business. Which may be why Dalio had such success with meditation, because he really invested into gaining the skillset within, and it truly paid off - not only in his success, but the peace he was able to maintain despite such high stakes he faced.
When that state is no longer occasional, but is default, and it's applied, decision after decision, across business and life - there is something different that happens. Once it became a learned skillset for him, it created a compounding effect that Dalio credits towards the foundation to every success he’s had.
What This Looks Like Behind Closed Doors
At Trinity Stream Mentoring, we teach leaders how to build this same skillset, customizing it to the individuals needs. Our clients come to us for similar reasons Dalio kept his teacher - to find the right way within themselves, and build that skillset within - allowing them stronger decision making over time, and honestly so much more than that.
At the start, a single conversation can bring clarity to the decision in front of you. But over time, something deeper happens: the clarity stops being something you access from the customized tools and guidance we provide in each session, and becomes a skillset that allows for higher decision making and operation. Each aligned decision makes the next one easier to see. Our clients describe the work we do as conversations and conditions that return them to their own clearest thinking — and over time, that becomes a learned skill that takes you back to yourself.
That's the compounding effect the headlines never captured. Dalio's edge wasn't one good meditation session in 1982, it was fifty years of a practice, held inside a relationship, quietly creating the space for thousands of decisions, until the results spoke for themselves.
Some of the most successful leaders in history built alongside spiritual support - it was Kobun for Steve Jobs, Tolle for Oprah Winfrey, Maharishi for The Beatles, and Roth for Ray Dalio.
If you're a leader who is carrying decisions, is at a crossroads in your career or life, or facing a challenge that’s needing clarity, and you're ready to explore what spiritual support can offer you in these business and life situations, then we invite you to apply for a complimentary Sapphire Session.
The proven effects of meditation are why we bring these same principles into our work, combined with other unique methodologies, that provide a more personal dimension for each leader we work with. It provides precision and speed, while you strengthen the same skillset Ray Dalio leaned on that created peace and equanimity within, while obtaining great success.
If you want to experience a meditation practice right now, access our free decision making meditation. Or you can apply for your complimentary 1-on-1 Sapphire Session with us.
About The Author - Sunya Tao-Tzu
Sunya is a Spiritual Mentor who works privately with entrepreneurs, CEOs, and public figures leading seven-to-eight figure companies. Through Trinity Stream, Sunya guides leaders to make clearer, more aligned decisions that yield savings in time and money, increase in impact and profit, and deeper fulfillment - both in their business and life. We welcome you into this enriching body of leadership mentoring by starting with a complimentary, application-based Sapphire Session, so you can get immediate guidance on your most pressing business or life decision.
FAQ
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Yes. Ray Dalio has practiced Transcendental Meditation since 1969, six years before founding Bridgewater Associates, and has called it the single most important reason for his success. (1, 2)
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Dalio practices Transcendental Meditation twice a day for 20 minutes, silently repeating a mantra, typically once in the morning and once before dinner. He describes each session as a "20-minute vacation" that improves his decision-making. (2)
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Bob Roth, CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, has been Ray Dalio's Transcendental Meditation teacher for more than a decade. Roth trained under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation who famously taught The Beatles. (12, 13)
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Yes. Around 2008, Dalio offered Bridgewater employees a company Transcendental Meditation course, personally reimbursing half the cost. Roughly 400 of 1,400 employees completed the training, and the firm added dedicated meditation rooms. (6, 7)
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Leaders like Dalio, Marc Benioff, and Bill Ford credit meditation with better decision-making, equanimity under pressure, and increased creativity. Harvard Business Review reports meditation helps leaders think more objectively and regulate ego-driven reactions. (8, 9, 11)
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Yes, successful entrepreneurs, CEOs and celebrities use spiritual mentors more than most people realize, with Steve Jobs, Ray Dalio, and Oprah Winfrey all crediting spiritual guidance as a significant contributor to their success and impact.
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Many do, usually privately. Steve Jobs worked with Zen teacher Kobun Chino Otogawa, Oprah Winfrey with Eckhart Tolle, and Ray Dalio has kept the same private meditation teacher for over a decade. A spiritual mentor for executives provides ongoing, personalized counsel — a relationship rather than a technique. (12)
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Look for a mentor who works with leaders at your level, offers a private 1:1 relationship, and focuses on deepening your clarity and connection within yourself. Our private work focuses around this, and is for leaders making over 7-figures.
References:
1. Dalio, R. Public statement via Facebook, quoted in "Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio: Meditation is 'the single most important reason' for my success." *CNBC Make It*, March 16, 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/16/bridgewater-associates-ray-dalio-meditation-is-key-to-my-success.html
2. "Billionaire Ray Dalio credits his success to 40 minutes of meditation per day — here's how he does it." *CNBC Make It*, December 18, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/18/billionaire-ray-dalio-how-transcendental-meditation-helps-me-succeed.html
3. Dalio, R. *Principles: Life and Work.* Simon & Schuster, 2017. (As quoted in CNBC Make It, March 16, 2018.)
4. "Ray Dalio reveals the surprising 'single most important reason' he's succeeded in investing — and it has nothing to do with finance." *Fortune*, November 25, 2025. https://fortune.com/2025/11/25/ray-dalio-reveals-investing-success-meditation/
5. "Transcendental Meditation helped Ray Dalio recover from financial ruin." *CNBC Make It*, July 1, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/01/transcendental-meditation-helped-ray-dalio-recover-from-financial-ruin.html
6. "The world's largest hedge fund reimburses employees half the cost of $1,000 meditation lessons." *Business Insider*, November 10, 2016. https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-trend-transcendental-meditation-2016-10
7. "Meditation grows popular at high-stress Wall Street firms." *CNN Money*, March 11, 2014. https://money.cnn.com/2014/03/11/investing/meditation-wall-street
8. "Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff: Why we have 'mindfulness zones' where employees put away phones, clear their minds." *CNBC Make It*, November 5, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/05/salesforce-ceo-marc-benioff-why-we-have-mindfulness-zones.html
9. "A Mindful Approach to Decision-Making." *Psychology Today*, February 5, 2019 (referencing Bill Ford in *Harvard Business Review*). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/tracking-wonder/201902/mindful-approach-decision-making
10. "Celebs who do transcendental meditation: Oprah, Ray Dalio, Lady Gaga." *CNBC Make It*, January 6, 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/06/celebs-who-do-transcendental-meditation-oprah-ray-dalio-lady-gaga.html
11. Birk, M. "What Meditation Can Do for Your Leadership." Harvard Business Review, December 6, 2019. https://hbr.org/2019/12/what-meditation-can-do-for-your-leadership
12. Wolfe, A. "Transcendental Meditation for Everyone." *The Wall Street Journal*, June 30, 2017.https://www.wsj.com/articles/transcendental-meditation-for-everyone-1498842465?eafs_enabled=false
13. "Meet Bob Roth: The Master of Meditation." *Avenue Magazine*, May 2025. https://avenuemagazine.com/meet-bob-roth-the-master-of-meditation/
14. "The meditation technique that helps some of the world's top business leaders succeed." *Marketplace*, February 13, 2018. https://www.marketplace.org/story/2018/02/13/meditation-technique-helps-some-worlds-top-business-leaders-succeed
15. Gregoire, C. "Transcendental Meditation Is Going Corporate. Here's Why That's A Good Thing." HuffPost, August 11, 2015. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/meditation-at-work_n_55ba4de4e4b0af35367a7e7b