Billionaire investor Jim Simons, the mathematician and Cold War codebreaker who founded one of the world's most prominent and profitable hedge funds Renaissance Technologies, died on Friday at the age of 86.
James Harris Simons chaired the math department at Stony Brook University in New York before founding the secretive quantitative hedge fund in 1978. Renaissance Technologies was officially established in 1982 and has since become one of the most profitable hedge funds in the industry, renowned for its Medallion fund, which averaged a 66 percent annual return. Fond remembrances poured in.
"Jim was actively involved in the work of the Simons Foundation until the end of his life. His curiosity and lifelong passion for math and basic science were an inspiration to those around him," said the Simons Foundation in a statement.
"He was determined to make a meaningful difference in the level of support that mathematics and basic sciences received in the United States, notably by sponsoring projects that were important but unlikely to find funding elsewhere," it added.
Simons and his wife Marilyn Simons established the private New York City-based foundation in 1994. The Simons Foundation is one of the largest charitable institutions supporting the advancement of mathematics and basic science.
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Renaissance CEO Peter Brown sent a note to staff today calling Simons a ‘visionary’. "Jim's most invigorating quality was his faith in people and in science," Brown wrote. "He could not have known in 1982 that the company he was founding would revolutionise the investment industry. But viscerally, he grasped that by bringing together mathematicians, physicists, and engineers to formalise the science of buying low and selling high (in either order), he was likely to create something of tremendous value -- value that he would then use to fund philanthropic efforts to make even more far-reaching contributions to society."
The investment and hedge fund community swiftly responded to the news of Simons' passing.
Cliff Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management, posted on X (Twitter); “RIP to an absolute legend and a good man.”
Ray Dalio, co-founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates and author of the New York Times bestseller 'Principles', posted on X: “Jim Simons was the greatest—an unbelievably great investor, philanthropist, and man of character. I and all who knew him will miss him.”
Mike Bloomberg, co-founder of Bloomberg, posted on X: “Jim Simons’ brilliant mind made him a legend in finance, but his most important investments were in philanthropy, including all the work he and Marilyn led together through the (Simons Foundation).”
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Bloomberg noted Simons’ founding of ‘Math for America’ -- a community of mathematics and science teachers, his contributions to Stony Brook University, and his funding of the fight against climate change. “Jim was a force for progress on many of the most pressing challenges we face,” said Bloomberg.
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