Explorer Yacht Influencer Interview: Ray Dalio

I’m not an economist. Or a hedge fund manager. Or even good at math. But I am curious enough to have read The Changing World Order by Ray Dalio who, by the way, also happens to be the founder of the world's largest hedge fund firm, Bridgewater Associates that currently has over $120 billion in assets under management. And since being particularly curious about ocean exploration is also a wonderful part of my job writing about yachts, I also know that Mark and Ray Dalio founded a serious ocean exploration initiative—OceanX a few years back. So… I could not imagine a better subject for my latest “Influencer Interview” series than Ray Dalio. As you’ll see, he’s as knowledgeable and passionate about the world’s oceans as he is about other important subjects.

BS: The mission of OceanX is “to explore the ocean and bring it back to the world.” And OceanX is doing that by “combing science, technology and media to explore and raise awareness for the oceans and create a community engaged with protecting them.” So, the question is: where does your motivation and passion for the OceanX mission come from?

RD: I'm so excited about the ocean and ocean exploration because the ocean is the most important asset the world has—it has the greatest effect on our wellbeing. And it's also the most exciting place to be. The ocean is 72 percent of the world's surface, and the highest point on the surface is equal to the ocean's deepest depth. So, this means that it's more than twice the size of all continents combined.

I grew up near the ocean on Long Island and some of my earliest memories are of the crabs, shells, all of those coastal experiences. And then watching Jacques Cousteau amazed me, and then I learned to dive, and I was lucky enough to have experiences interacting with ocean explorers. It’s been a lifelong journey.

What I'm hoping to do with OceanX is explore it and then bring it back to people to see it the way Jacques Cousteau did for me. OceanX is an endeavor that I've been doing in one form or another for about 11 years. We’ve done museum exhibitions. We have an ocean exploration that we bring scientists on and is the best platform for both discovery and for conveying discovery in media.

OceanX is doing this with marine biologists from all over the world and sharing their discoveries on regular and social media. OceanX has more than 10 million social media followers, who love following the missions and learning about the ocean. Later this year, we’re excited to release OceanXplorers, a groundbreaking new television series on National Geographic/Disney produced by BBC Studios Natural History Unit and OceanX in association with Earthship Productions for National Geographic. It follows a team of scientific and storytelling pioneers exploring the deepest and most inaccessible depths of our world’s oceans aboard OceanXplorer."

BS: Can you tell me about the underwater missions you're most proud of or excited by?

RD: We were the first to capture footage of the Giant Squid in its natural setting with The Discovery Channel in 2012, bringing amazing footage of this incredible creature to the world. We have filmed expeditions for BBC’s Blue Planet II and Sir David Attenborough’s award-winning series Great Barrier Reef."

BS: Since some of OceanX’s greatest contributions to the field of marine science include conducting the first-ever submersible dives to the Antarctic seafloor and conducting the most comprehensive survey of North America’s only coral barrier reef system it’s obvious that submarine-operation is integral to OceanX’s mission. Can you also talk about your choice of Triton subs? Apart from any connection to the company you might have, can you tell me why Triton subs are the best choice for the missions you have planned?

RD: We use Triton subs for ocean exploration because they are the most reliable and they can be perfectly customized for our scientific and media needs.

And OceanX continues to make a positive difference in the world. Earlier this year, OceanX convened global climate leaders together at COP28 in Dubai to advance ocean health. Experts aboard OceanXplorer this year have also surveyed underwater seamounts and ridges in the Azores to provide data to support the Azorean government’s goal of designating 30% of the region’s waters as Marine Protected Areas. And during a recent mission in the Seychelles (where these photos of Dalio diving were shot) OceanX also created the first-ever comprehensive map of the Aldabra Atoll, the world's second-largest coral atoll.

Stay tuned for more information.