When Ray Dalio, the multibillionaire founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, announced his retirement in October, both he and the firm he founded more than four decades ago treated the moment as celebratory.Mr. Dalio, 73, told his millions of followers on LinkedIn that he felt “great about the people” to whom he had handed the reins. And one of Bridgewater’s two new chief executives, Nir Bar Dea, sent an enthusiastic note to clients: “The transition from Ray is done!”But neither Mr. Dalio, known for his creed of “radical transparency,” nor Bridgewater said at the time, or since, that he had hardly gone without a fight. His exit — partly spurred by controversial remarks he had made on television about China’s …
