Ray Dalio, founder and CIO Mentor, Bridgewater Associates, speaks onstage during The Wall Street Journal’s 2024 The Future of Everything Festival at Spring Studios in New York, May 22, 2024.
Dia Dipasupil | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio and his wife, Barbara, have committed to seed Trump accounts, a type of investment account for kids.
“Ray has joined what we are calling the 50-state challenge,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press conference on Wednesday. “We are inviting every philanthropist in every state across the country to partner with us in building generational wealth for America’s children through Trump accounts.”
The Dalio grant will fund $250 per child for approximately 300,000 children in Connecticut. This applies to children who live in a ZIP code where the median income is less than $150,000. About 87% of Connecticut ZIP codes meet that criteria, according to a CNBC analysis of Census Bureau data.
“Barbara and I believe strongly in the importance of equal opportunity and believe this initiative is an important step in that direction,” Ray Dalio, who is the founder of the investment firm Bridgewater Associates, said in a statement.
A Wednesday update on trumpaccounts.gov ahead of the announcement named the Dalios in a section on additional support: “Michael and Susan Dell, Ray and Barbara Dalio. More to come.”
The Dalio family and Dalio Philanthropies have previously donated over $280 million to nonprofit causes in Connecticut.
How Trump accounts work
Trump accounts were created under President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” which Congress passed in July.
Babies born in 2025 through 2028 will each receive a one-time $1,000 deposit in their account. There are no income requirements, and everyone is eligible for the government’s seed money, as long as the child is a U.S. citizen.
To open a Trump account, an election must be made on IRS Form 4547. The form can be filed separately or with your 2025 tax return. Beginning in mid-2026, you can also make the election online at trumpaccounts.gov.
Earlier this month, the pilot program got a significant boost when Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, and his wife, Susan, announced a $6.25 billion pledge to help fund the new savings accounts for children.
Children 10 or under and born before Jan. 1, 2025 — who wouldn’t qualify for the $1,000 initial deposit from the government — may also be able to receive $250 from the Dell family grant deposited to their Trump account if they live in a ZIP code where the median income is $150,000 or less.
A growing number of companies have announced they will match contributions to Trump accounts for their employees, including BNY and BlackRock. During a roundtable event at the White House in June, Dell vowed to match the government’s seed money “dollar for dollar” for his employees’ kids.
BNY announced on Dec. 11 that the company will match the federal government’s $1,000 seed money for eligible newborns of its U.S. employees. On Wednesday, BlackRock said it would also match the one-time $1,000 donation for children of its U.S. employees.