Legendary Investor and ‘Quant King’ Jim Simons Dies at 86

Legendary mathematician and investor Jim Simons, also known as the “Quant King,” died at the age of 86 on Friday, according to a statement from the Simons Foundation.

Simons taught mathematics at a number of prominent universities including MIT and Harvard University, and was a code-breaker during the Vietnam War before founding quantitative hedge fund Renaissance Technologies.

Simons and his Renaissance colleagues became known for their closely-guarded quantitative analysis models. The firm was famous for its policies of hiring statisticians and mathematicians over Wall Street veterans, and its flagship Medallion Fund generated an average annual return of almost 40% after fees from 1988 through 2023.

Simons served as CEO of Renaissance from 1982 until 2010, eventually stepping away from the firm’s board of directors in 2021. His abilities in the world of quantitative analysis earned him the nickname the “Quant King.”

As of the firm’s latest 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February, Renaissance’s portfolio was worth about $64.61 billion. Simons was worth an estimated $31.8 billion, making him one of the 50 richest people in the world at the time of his passing, according to Bloomberg.

The Simons Foundation, which announced his passing, was co-founded by Simons along with his wife Marilyn, donating billions of dollars over the course of his life to charities and projects related to research and education in the fields of math and science.

“Jim was an exceptional leader who did transformative work in mathematics and developed a world-leading investment company,” Simons Foundation president David Spergel said. “Together with Marilyn Simons, the current Simons Foundation board chair, Jim created an organization that has already had enormous impact in mathematics, basic science and our understanding of autism. The Simons Foundation, an in-perpetuity foundation, will carry their vision for philanthropy into the future.”