• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Billionaire boss used disturbing interview test on candidates and wouldn’t hire anyone who failed

Home> News

Updated 13:33 16 Jan 2025 GMTPublished 12:16 16 Jan 2025 GMT

Billionaire boss used disturbing interview test on candidates and wouldn’t hire anyone who failed

Ray Dalio has come up with 'Principles' to pave the way to success

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

The billionaire founder of the world's largest hedge fund allegedly put interview candidates through a very intense and unusual test to see whether they could handle the job.

Every boss has their own way of managing, but New York's Ray Dalio is so confident in his approach that he's quite literally written the book on 'success'.

Principles For Success is just one of the published works by the businessman, and it details the 'Principles' he came up with after founding Bridgewater Associates; a hedge fund that's managed as much as $160 billion for investors across the globe.

Advert

Dalio, who has a net worth of $14 billion as per Forbes, founded the company in 1975, and as he sought to grow the business he asked his employees to work according to his 'Principles' - essentially a set of 'rules' that he hoped would offer employees the answers to any potential issue they might face.

Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater in 1975 (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater in 1975 (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Implementing the Principles

It wasn't just Dalio's employees that lived by the Principles; the founder did too, and he sought to prove as much when he brought in one staff member, Katina Stefanova, to address her apparent failure to keep up with demands when it came to hiring new members of staff.

Advert

The recorded meeting has been detailed in Rob Copeland's book about Dalio, titled The Fund, and explains how Stefanova allegedly attempted to point out to Dalio that she had 'frequently' spoken with him about the pace at which new staffers were being hired.

Stefanova's response was an attempt to follow Bridgewater's internal handbook, which Copeland cites as saying: "Mistakes are not bad. They are opportunities to learn."

Staff were also encouraged to be open and honest under the Principles; however Stefanova's attempts to implement them allegedly backfired when Dalio argued she should have been more honest earlier and 'told him he was wrong' if he'd approved the pace of hiring during one of their discussions.

According to Copeland, Dalio then proceeded to 'scream' at Stefanova, calling her 'dumb' and making her cry until she ran out of the meeting room.

Advert

Dalio had every meeting at Bridgewater recorded (Ore Huiying/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Dalio had every meeting at Bridgewater recorded (Ore Huiying/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Testing new hires

The Principles quickly challenged new hires as they had to make sure they followed the 'rules', so Dalio wanted to try and make sure Bridgewater was only hiring those who could handle it.

To do this, Copeland claims, the founder had the recording of his meeting with Stefanova edited to a version in which he was portrayed as 'a kind but firm questioner', while Stefanova, who was pregnant at the time, remained a woman in distress.

Advert

According to The Fund, Bridgewater then sent out this edited version of the meeting to potential new starters as an 'open-ended conversation-cum-personality quiz'.

Viewers were asked if they felt Stefanova had been dealt with 'fairly', or if they felt bad for her.

Those who expressed sympathy for Stefanova were, Copeland says, 'scored badly and deemed bad fits'.

"Those who admitted they found the display hard to digest saw their résumés swiftly meet the shredder," Copeland writes.

Advert

Dalio has dismissed Copeland's claims (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Dalio has dismissed Copeland's claims (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Dalio's response

An excerpt from Copeland's book which detailed Dalio's meeting with Stefanova was published by Business Insider in 2023, at which time a spokesperson for Dalio dismissed the reporting as 'one of those classic tabloid books'.

The spokesperson pointed out Copeland had previously and unsuccessfully applied for a job at Bridgewater - something Copeland admits in the book - and claimed he went on to make a career of 'writing distorted stories about Bridgewater and Ray Dalio'.

"The picture the book paints is obviously implausible given Bridgewater's long track record of investment performance and its high percentage of long-tenured employees. Mr. Dalio doesn't want to divert his attention from more important things to discuss this trivial gossipy book," the spokesperson claimed.

UNILAD has reached out to Bridgewater and Dalio's legal team for comment.

Featured Image Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images/Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Fast Company

Topics: US News, Money, Life

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
13 hours ago
14 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Male escort alleges disturbing details of what happened at Diddy's 'freak off' parties during trial

    The male escort claimed he had multiple encounters with Diddy and Cassie

    News
  • 13 hours ago

    Former FBI agent reveals quick thinking trick he pulled off to stop his own murder

    Scott Payne had to think on his feet to escape an undercover mission with his life

    News
  • 14 hours ago

    Ingredient found in Ziploc freezer bags could have harmful effects on body, shocking new lawsuit claims

    A Ziploc spokesperson has stated its products are 'safe when used as directed and that the lawsuit is without merit'

    News
  • 14 hours ago

    Woman, 27, found alive after 3 weeks missing in mountains details how she survived

    Officials said it was a 'miracle' Tiffany Slaton survived her ordeal

    News
  • Boss uses the same two-step ‘confidence’ test in every interview and won’t hire anyone who fails
  • Boss gives candidates 'stupid' alphabet test in job interviews and won't hire those who fail
  • Steve Jobs used 'beer test' to interview people at Apple
  • Cult classic Texas Chain Saw Massacre used real skeleton in twisted scene for one disturbing reason