Quant King passes away: James Simmons was the billionaire investor, mathematician and Cold War code-breaker known as the Quant King, as well as the founder of Renaissance Technologies, one of the world's most famous and profitable hedge funds. not anymore. He was 86 years old. However, Simons Foundation has not made any disclosure regarding the cause of his death. He is survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren and one great-grandson. At the Nobel 'Abel Prize' ceremony for mathematics in the year 2022, James had said that he has worked a lot on mathematics, earned a lot of money and donated almost all the money. He further said that this is the story of his life.
How to become a quant king?
Sixty years ago James Simmons changed his path. He left his job teaching mathematics and working for US Intelligence and entered the field of investing. In the field of investing, he mastered the use of computer signals to make trading decisions, which earned him the nickname of the Quant King. He was renowned as a man who saw the market as a code that had to be solved. Wall Street Journal writer Gregory Zuckerman wrote about him in a 2019 book, The Man Who Solved the Market.
As a mathematician, he worked with large amounts of data and looked for patterns in buying and selling. He started the renaissance in 1978. He soon discovered a new way of investing that laid the foundation for quantitative trading which was later adopted by many companies. The special thing is that he hired physicists, mathematicians, astronomers and computer scientists who generally have no knowledge of finance. While talking about this at a New York conference in 2007, he said that he had not hired anyone from Wall Street.
Simmons was greatly respected, but also somewhat feared, on Wall Street. That's because Renaissance's Medallion Fund has delivered average annual returns of more than 60% over three decades. Under Simmons it became one of the most successful hedge funds in the world. He retired as CEO in 2010 and then stepped down as chairman in 2021.
Millions of dollars were spent for the welfare of the people
About James Simmons The managing and founding principal of AQR Capital Management said James Simmons was an exception to Churchill's rule. Churchill used to say that a great and a good man are rarely the same, that is, it is very difficult for the same person to be both great and good. Forbes has estimated his wealth at $31 billion. He invested millions of dollars in the welfare of the people. He spent this money on medical and science research, teaching, and Democratic candidates. Simons and his wife Marilyn started the Simons Foundation, which supports scientists and organizations for research in mathematics and the basic sciences.