Ray Dalio was born in 1949 and raised in the New York City area. He describes his childhood and youth as ordinary, although he struggled in grade school and faced the death of his mother when he was 19 years old. Dalio was curious about meditation and other offshoots of 1960s and 1970s counterculture, but he also developed an early interest in work and making money. At a young age, he invested $300 in Northeast Airlines stock, tripling his money. He credits the experience with inspiring his lifelong involvement with the world of finance.

Dalio attended C.W. Post College and then Harvard Business School, excelling academically. He began his career working as a commodities futures trader at the New York Stock Exchange but eventually founded his own hedge fund company, Bridgewater Associates, in 1975. Bridgewater experienced mixed success and some major failures in the 1970s and 1980s However, Dalio was committed to learning from mistakes and growing his company. Eventually, Bridgewater became the largest hedge fund in the world, with numerous high-profile clients.

Early on, Dalio became interested in writing down his thoughts about the economy, finance, and related matters. He began to write a column called Daily Observations in the late 1970s, distributing it to Bridgewater clients.