Topline
Jim Simons, a mathematician turned billionaire investor and philanthropist, died Friday at the age of 86.
Simons co-founded his foundation in 1994. (Photo credit should read TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Key Facts
Simons’ passing was announced by his scientific research organization, the Simons Foundation, which did not share the cause of death and noted the investor is survived by his wife and three children.
Simons, who used to chair the math department at Stony Brook University, founded Renaissance Technologies—a hedge fund specializing in quantitative trading—in 1982, helping the fund establish itself as one of the best-performing investment firms ever before he retired in 2010.
Renaissance, which now manages $106 billion in assets, was made famous by its Medallion Fund, a $10 billion fund known for its consistent gains and only accessible to Renaissance’s owners and employees.
Simons and his wife, Marilyn Simons, co-founded the Simons Foundation in 1994 with the goal of supporting education, mathematics and basic science.
Simons and his wife gave billions of dollars to philanthropic and educational causes, supporting autism research and Math For America, which helped STEM teachers and was also co-founded by Simons.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Simons’ net worth at $31.4 billion, making him the 51st richest person in the world at the time of his passing. He first made the Forbes billionaires list in 2005.
Surprising Fact
Simons was a codebreaker for the U.S. during the Vietnam War.
Key Background
Simons was born in the Boston suburb of Brookline in 1938, Bloomberg reported, noting he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at MIT in 1958 after three years of study. His achievements as a mathematician contributed to academic fields such as string theory, topology and condensed matter physics, according to his foundation. Though Simons retired from his work with Renaissance in 2010 after championing a quantitative approach to trading, he stayed active in his role as the Simons Foundation’s co-founder until the end of his life.
Further Reading
How Billionaire Jim Simons Learned To Beat The Market—And Began Wall Street’s Quant Revolution (Forbes)
Jim Simons, ‘Quant King’ at Renaissance Technologies, Dies at 86 (Bloomberg)
