New Delhi, Aug. 31 -- Before becoming the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, Ray Dalio faced a period of severe financial distress that changed how he approached investing and decision-making.

According to Fortune, Dalio was forced to borrow $4,000 from his father to cover family expenses after a major investment miscalculation in the early 1980s. He later said the experience taught him two important lessons: humility and diversification.

Dalio founded what would become Bridgewater Associates in 1975, operating initially from his two-bedroom apartment in New York City.

Around 1980-81, he predicted that the US had lent more money to other countries than they could repay and anticipated a major debt crisis. When Mexico defaul...