Bombshell biography of billionaire Ray Dalio could become an Amazon TV series: sources

Despite Ray Dalio’s best efforts to stop it, an explosive new biography on the hedge fund titan is coming out next month – and it may even get the Hollywood treatment, On The Money has learned. 

Amazon Studios – which has produced mega hits like “The Summer I turned Pretty” and “Jack Ryan” – has already scooped up the rights to the book with a plan to develop it as a scripted series, sources said.

Amazon has hired a writer and is taking steps to even cast the project based on Rob Copeland’s book “The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend,” which is slated for release Nov. 7 by Macmillan Publishers, these people said.

Of course, development of a project doesn’t guarantee it will actually get done. For instance, a recent attempted adaptation of John Carreyrou’s “Bad Blood” directed by Adam McKay with Jennifer Lawrence was halted last year. Likewise a scripted project about WeWork with Nicholas Braun as Adam Neumann failed to make it to production. 

One industry source even quipped that when a streamer buys the rights it’s where “books go to die.”

Last month, On The Money reported that Dalio — who has famously promoted “radical transparency” as a management mantra — hired a team of high-priced lawyers to threaten a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Macmillan to stop publication.

The book claims to reveal some ugly truths about Dalio and Bridgewater, the giant investment firm he started. 

It’s unclear whether Dalio will take steps to stop the production of the Amazon series, but the possibility of a lawsuit didn’t appear to deter potential buyers. Mr. Copeland has told people multiple streamers tried to snap up the film and television rights to the book.

Amazon and Bridgewater did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Dalio declined to comment.

People close to the project say the timing could be serendipitous given the development is happening as “Billions” – Showtime’s popular series about a hedge fund manager thought to be based on Mets owner Steve Cohen, comes to a close after seven seasons. 

Dalio, a former Burning Man attendee who is worth $19 billion according to Forbes, has turned his best-selling book “Principles” into a children’s book. 

He has often talked of aligning work with passion and advocated the idea of “radical transparency,” which means being completely honest about your own weaknesses — and confronting others about their mistakes even if it means being combative.

In recent years, a number of news stories have been turned into scripted series. “WeCrashed,” which depicted the WeWork implosion, was based on a podcast of the same name by journalist David Brown. “Super Pumped,” about Uber’s dramatic rise, was based on a book by reporter Mike Isaac. “Dumb Money,” the new, star-studded flick about the meme-stock craze, was based on the book “The Anti-Social Network” by Ben Mezrich.