9 ms·

Jim Simons has died

• rybosworld 2y ago
  I might be naive but it seems unfortunate that so many bright minds end up using their talents to catch trillions of pennies in the financial markets.
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  • thrdbndndn 2y ago
    What you said might be true, but he's like THE outlier of this trope though.
  • creer 2y ago
    He did a few other things also. RenTech didn't even require all his time.
  • jjtheblunt 2y ago
    Your comment just made me wonder if the catching of those trillions of pennies makes the markets more efficient. (Not an economist, and I don't pretend to know.)
    • rybosworld 2y ago
      I think the efforts do make the markets more efficient, and it would be hard to argue the opposite. I'm just wondering out loud if that's a meaningful use of such a large percentage of top talent. I'm not faulting anyone who chooses to go that way. There's a lot of money to be made. To me, it seems unfortunate that we don't better incentive pursuit of science/engineering. This paper breaks down how many people from top schools (MIT, Yale, Harvard) get jobs in finance. It's between 20-30% of the graduating class every year. https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%2520Files/16-067_3d306ef8-09a1-42b3-956f-a797846b9e3c.pdf https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%2520Files/16-067_3d306ef...
      • jjtheblunt 2y ago
        I bet it's partially that the money is good, and partially that the puzzles are enticing.
      • smabie 2y ago
        Trading is just like, a lot of fun you know? Atleast that's my primary motivation for it.
  • paulpauper 2y ago
    dumb comment. he did more than that. consider his catching pennies helped others who chose other vocations.
  • mlsu 2y ago
    Don't think about the money. Money flows in one direction, but corporate decisions, organization of resources, manufacturing activity -- real physical flows, energy flows, mass flows -- move opposite. What "finance" really is is improving allocation of those real resources, and then skimming a little bit off of the improvement. Fundamentally, money is a signal for the expenditure of energy. The flow of money, the signal, can be analyzed and applied optimally to improve the expenditure of energy. If the world's production capacity is a giant muscle, finance is like the brain. Spending 20 watts of brainpower to move a 100 watt muscle in the right way can be hugely effective, far more effective than a 1000 watt muscle with 5 watts of brain. This is really what finance does. They improve the movement of the muscle.
• aborsy 2y ago
  RIP. A good guy and a good foundation. Anyone knows the cause of death?
• seper8 2y ago
  https://youtu.be/QNznD9hMEh0?si=XrLiIDUV4WMfIz2V https://youtu.be/QNznD9hMEh0?si=XrLiIDUV4WMfIz2V Interesting Numberphile interview with Jim, if you're not aware who he is
• k8sToGo 2y ago
  Link seems to be broken. I can’t see anything
  • OutOfHere 2y ago
    Same here, but it works in a private window.
  • deleted 2y ago
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• gnatman 2y ago
  His interview on Numberphile is great- very smart guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0
• imranq 2y ago
  "My algorithm has always been: You put smart people together, you give them a lot of freedom, create an atmosphere where everyone talks to everyone else. They're not hiding in the corner with their own little thing. They talk to everybody else. And you provide the best infrastructure. The best computers and so on that people can work with and make everyone partners"
  • adversaryIdiot 2y ago
    if only more companies fostered the idea of employee wellbeing
    • mycologos 2y ago
      A somewhat cynical take is that "smart people" is doing a lot of work here. If you get to restrict your hiring to people who have proven themselves to be world-class in something, they are probably much more likely to respond to freedom by pursuing something than by coasting (or worse).
      • quartesixte 2y ago
        Yeah an unpopular and maybe socially inconvenient thing to say at parties, but the more I manage operational teams, the more I find this true. Bureaucracy stoops down to the lowest common denominator of the group. Smart people capable of self-motivating and self-organizing don’t need a lot of bureaucratic structure if given enough incentive and freedom. Being promised millions is a lot of incentive.
    • richrichie 2y ago
      Employee wellbeing is overrated. In fact, standard economic theory would say that it is better to pay people more instead doing anything else.
  • jetrink 2y ago
    > create an atmosphere where everyone talks to everyone else. The company is an interesting example of Conway's Law[1]. I learned from the recent Acquired episode on RenTech[2] that in contrast to how most other firms work, there is only a single model within RenTech that everyone contributes to. You don't have a bunch of small teams working in silos building specialized or competing models. As a result, every new development gets shared with the whole group. 1. [O]rganizations which design systems are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations. 2. https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/renaissance-technologies https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/renaissance-technologies
• ldjkfkdsjnv 2y ago
  The reality is that most extremely wealthy people are very far on the right tail of intelligence. People exist that can predict the market, they are just very rare.
  • questinthrow 2y ago
    While mister Simons might not be the best example, I sometimes feel that you can easily beat the market if you are well connected and have access to information that can move the markets before anyone else. For example how much know-how do you need to beat the market if you're a US senator? You know before anyone else what's going to happen regarding policy and can plan accordingly. There were rumours about this even regarding Simons' Medallion fund. About how all the talk about math and algorithms was just a red herring to divert from the fact that it was mostly insider knowledge that did the heavy lifting. Alas these rumours were never confirmed as far as I know.
    • choilive 2y ago
      "There are 3 ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter or cheat" - Margin Call
      • paulpauper 2y ago
        it would seem like RenTec is the first two
    • infecto 2y ago
      That kind of theory is the same as chemtrails are real. Insider trading exists but the amount of secrecy to make that theory a reality would be unobtainable.
      • questinthrow 2y ago
        There are US senators that make millions by using their spouses as intermediaries to buy and sell shares. Insider trading as a crime only exists for those that are not well connected enough
• tromp 2y ago
  The news item is blocked by many ad-blockers, including my Brave browser. Using Firefox I see the text: Simons Foundation Co-Founder, Mathematician and Investor Jim Simons Dies at 86 By Thomas Sumner May 10, 2024 Simons Foundation co-founder and chair emeritus Jim Simons. © Béatrice de Géa It is with great sadness that the Simons Foundation announces the death of its co-founder and chair emeritus, James Harris Simons, on May 10, 2024, at the age of 86, in New York City. Jim (as he preferred to be called) was an award-winning mathematician, a legend in quantitative investing, and an inspired and generous philanthropist. Together with his wife, Simons Foundation chair Marilyn Simons, he gave billions of dollars to hundreds of philanthropic causes, particularly those supporting math and science research and education. In 1994, they established the Simons Foundation, which supports scientists and organizations worldwide in advancing the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. Jim was active in the work of the Simons Foundation until the end of his life, and his curiosity and lifelong passion for math and basic science were an inspiration to those around him. 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. Over its 30-year history, the Simons Foundation’s work has led to breakthroughs in our understanding of autism, the origins of the universe, cellular biology and computational science. Jim and Marilyn’s giving continues to support the next generation of mathematicians and scientists at schools and universities in New York City and around the world. Jim frequently said that he went through three phases in his professional life: mathematician, investor and philanthropist. He previously chaired the math department at Stony Brook University in New York, and his mathematical breakthroughs during that time are now instrumental to fields such as string theory, topology and condensed matter physics. In 1978, Jim founded what would become Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund that pioneered quantitative trading and became one of the most profitable investment firms in history. He then turned his focus to making a difference in the world through the Simons Foundation, Simons Foundation International, Math for America and other philanthropic efforts. “Jim was an exceptional leader who did transformative work in mathematics and developed a world-leading investment company,” says Simons Foundation president David Spergel. “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.” Jim Simons is survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren, a great-grandchild, and countless colleagues, friends and family who fondly recall his genuine curiosity and quick wit. We know that many people have stories, messages and memories they would like to share about Jim. Please send them to observing@simonsfoundation.org. Information on memorial services and other events honoring Jim’s life and legacy will be posted on the Simons Foundation website.
• elorant 2y ago
  I highly recommend the book "The Man Who Solved the Market" by Gregory Zuckerman which explains how Simons build his infamous company. https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Solved-Market-Revolution/dp/073521798X https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Solved-Market-Revolution/dp/0...
  • pibefision 2y ago
    +1 for this book. It's a great way to understand what he did.
  • topherPedersen 2y ago
    I started reading the last chapter this afternoon.
  • paulpauper 2y ago
    infamous implies bad.
    • elorant 2y ago
      Well it’s an algo trading company.
      • kzzzznot 2y ago
        Please explain why quantitative algo (not HFT) trading is “bad”?
        • elorant 2y ago
          Why do you make the distinction from HFT? At their heart they're both the same thing. You're using algorithms to trade and eventually manipulate markets. What kind of value are you adding to the whole system?
          • kzzzznot 2y ago
            The distinction in my mind is HFT is “worse” for market participants because of the front running of large orders between exchanges. I’d argue this cross exchange arbitrage does still provide some value by keeping prices of securities across exchanges/the world in sync, despite being quite unfair and taking value from those putting in large orders. Liquidity provided by algo market makers is also a service to market participants because they take risk to ensure there is always someone to buy or sell - this reduces volatility and risk for everyone. Algo trading is also required for keeping ETFs in line their benchmarks, which is an entirely separate subject you could fill a book with. So no, all algo trading is not the same thing, there are valid and productive uses of code rather than people shouting across a pit or running slips up and down roads to keep capital flowing through markets efficiently.
• hasante 2y ago
  Damn! - with all anyone has to say - thats really sad to hear.
• tombert 2y ago
  Sadly I've never been able to snag an interview with RenTech (and I've applied like a dozen times), but they're the ones that actually made me start taking finance a lot more seriously. Maybe if I ever finish my PhD they'll hire me. I had previously thought of HFT and Quant as a bunch of "finance bros", and kind of dismissed it as "not real CS" [1]. Reading about RenTech and Jim Simons made realize that there's actually a lot of really cool and interesting math and CS that goes into this stuff. Jim Simons being a respected mathematician who just decided to change trajectories has always fascinated me, and it's sad that he's gone. [1] I don't believe this anymore and I feel dumb for thinking it in the first place.
  • filoleg 2y ago
    His whole RenTech story was fascinating. Effectively an outsider in finance who gathered a bunch of other outsiders (aka big mathematicians), and decided to start a hedge fund that takes zero interest in the actual companies and trades solely on math. Which makes sense, since none of the main people involved in its creation had any corporate or finance experience, but tons of math experience and knowledge. This is oversimplifying it like crazy, but I recommend anyone to anyone with even a passing curiosity for this look up the details (or read “The Man Who Solved The Market”, which is documenting the beginnings and growth of RenTech, as well as that of Simons; very enjoyable read).
    • tombert 2y ago
      Yep, not argument here at all, RenTech is a super fascinating outlier in finance. It's kind of inspiring. I don't know a ton about finance or trading algorithms, but I know a fair bit (I think) about math and CS, and because of RenTech I've formulating my own trading strategies (just paper trades). Thus far all I've been able to do is lose all my pretend money by trying to play options, but it's still fun to try. Will I be successful and make billions? Almost certainly not, but it's an excuse to play with different types of math that I don't play with very often, but RenTech proved that you can beat the market by taking advantage mathematics.
      • 2y ago
• markgall 2y ago
  Will be interesting to see how this affects math research. He has pumped unthinkable amounts of money into the field. The only first-class flights I've taken in my life were to get to Simons-funded conferences at super fancy hotels. (I found these conferences a bit ridiculous, but the luxury treatment did ensure that they could get together a lot of the biggest names in the field in one place.) Besides the conferences, there is the SCGP at Stony Brook, the Simons Center in Manhattan, whatever MSRI is called now, AMS-Simons travel grants, tons of money for the arXiv, the Magma license deal... and that's just the stuff that I've benefited from personally. I know there's more, Simons Collaboration grants and probably other things I've never heard of. He was very good to us all. We've always joked that Phds in geometry-adjacent fields have to have one of the highest average incomes of any degree, probably at least $1 million a year. Simons making $3 billion, the rest of us making 90k apiece.
  • 1980phipsi 2y ago
    Quanta Magazine is also funded by his foundation.
    • max_ 2y ago
      Even the Numberphile YouTube Channel. He was very serious about improving maths education and actually did alot.
      • 7thaccount 2y ago
        Man. That Numberphile episode on Fermat's Last Theorem with Simon Singh had me on the edge of my seat like I was as a child when Darth Maul pulled out that double-bladed lightsaber during Phantom Menace. I'm not a math major either.
      • hnbear 2y ago
        I thought Numberphile is sponsored by Jane St. Another math focused quant firm.
        • 2y ago
• mehulashah 2y ago
  This person made a lot of money, so it’s easy to say that he’s part of the machine. But, the man had principles. And he stood by them. Grateful for him showing us the way.
  • dcgudeman 2y ago
    "the machine"? What is "the machine", the economy?
    • mehulashah 2y ago
      I meant the financial-industrial complex that dictates our economy.
      • wood_spirit 2y ago
        Other principles that he famously stood for against the machine was opposing the Vietnam war when he was a cryptographer for the US government machine.
      • danielmarkbruce 2y ago
        He wasn't really dictating anything. He was just in the casino playing a better game of poker (I don't mean that in a bad way).
        • yau8edq12i 2y ago
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Simons_(mathematician)#Political_and_economic_views https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Simons_(mathematician)#Pol... > Since 1990, Renaissance Technologies has contributed $59,081,152 to federal campaigns and since 2001, and has spent $3,730,000 on lobbying as of 2016. Let's not kid ourselves, people at this level of wealth and power can very much make their voice heard by the people who make policy. He's definitely not the only one in this position, but to frame him as a "better casino player" who is "not really dictating anything" is naive at best.
• mushufasa 2y ago
  Last month an amazing biographical podcast came out describing his personal journey to starting rentech, and the factors that make the business so competitive. Certainly worth a listen https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/renaissance-technologies https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/renaissance-technologies
  • Schiendelman 2y ago
    This is by far my favorite podcast series, I’d recommend the ones on Costco, Amazon, and Nvidia as well.
    • arcanemachiner 2y ago
      Acquired is amazing. They recently did one on Microsoft which is great too.
    • crakenzak 2y ago
      Their Novo Nordisk one is really great too!
  • keiferski 2y ago
    Came here to recommend this. This podcast is a good overview for RenTech and their other episodes are good for other companies. Especially the Nintendo series. They also did an interview with Charlie Munger right before he died. They have good...timing, for sure.
  • javiramos 2y ago
    The podcast seems like a death sentence. They did one on Charlie Munger and he died a few weeks after. Jim Simons also died a few weeks after his episode aired.
  • bcherny 2y ago
    I listen to Acquired religiously, but felt this particular episode was pretty weak. They went through Zuckerman's The Man Who Solved the Market [0] chapter by chapter, butchering a few parts because the hosts don't know quant finance well (though they seem to know VC and product very well). I'd recommend just reading the book instead. I'd also recommend Derman's My Life as a Quant [1] for a broader take at other firms around the same time that Renaissance was taking off. [0] https://a.co/d/6x7ALkr https://a.co/d/6x7ALkr [1] https://a.co/d/5vWBOce https://a.co/d/5vWBOce
• ilrwbwrkhv 2y ago
  Really sad. I looked up to him. Trying to achieve brilliance in a field and then gathering a brilliant team and making money and then giving back is a great way to live.
• chrispeel 2y ago
  Archive link for original article: https://archive.ph/zIx9b https://archive.ph/zIx9b Simons also funded Quanta magazine: https://www.quantamagazine.org/about/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/about/ His Wikipedia page is interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Simons_(mathematician) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Simons_(mathematician)
  • SSLy 2y ago
    thank you, the page renders empty for me.
    • justinclift 2y ago
      Yeah, it's effectively a placeholder for me. No content whatsoever.
• OutOfHere 2y ago
  What was the cause of death?
  • chronic640201 2y ago
    Old age But probably smoking
• georgehaake 2y ago
  Pretty good run for an adult life-long heavy smoker.
  • painted-now 2y ago
    I forgot which interview that was, but Jim mentioned that some folks are genetically less affected by smoking - and the he did such a test and he seems not to be affected by it and that this was the reason why he didn't stop.
• mfiguiere 2y ago
  Acquired Podcast did a 3 hours episode on the history of Renaissance Technologies last month. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KjW4BqNFy0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KjW4BqNFy0
• deleted 2y ago
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• gregjw 2y ago
  A true legend. RIP.
• shashanoid 2y ago
  Oh my god, may he rest in peace. I enjoyed listening to him
• deleted 2y ago
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• djoshea 2y ago
  The Simons Foundation has had an enormous, transformative impact on neuroscience as well. It’s widely considered among the most incisive, forward-looking sources of funding in the field, pushing for fundamental advances to solve “tomorrow’s problems.” https://www.simonsfoundation.org/collaborations/#global-brain https://www.simonsfoundation.org/collaborations/#global-brai...
• tremarley 2y ago
  One of the most impactful men of our generation. He will be remember for lifetimes
• CliffStoll 2y ago
  I'm personally grateful to Jim Simons -- and his foundation -- for supporting and extending mathematical research in Berkeley, and throughout the world. Jim Simons did fundamental research in topology; his work in mathematics, cryptography, and topological quantum field theory. Beyond this, he pressed for higher quality public education in math and encouraging training and presige for math teachers.
• lvkv 2y ago
  As an alum of Stony Brook, I’m grateful for all Jim Simons did for the university. Aside from having been the chairman of the math department, he’s the reason we have the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, as well as the “Renaissance” School of Medicine. Not to mention his recent gift of $500 million—the largest unrestricted donation to a public university in American history. I’m sure there’s much, much more that he’s done that I’m not even aware of.
• blackhaj7 2y ago
  Anyone got a link to the rentec money machine source code? I fancy an early retirement. Jokes aside, really sad to hear this. The guy did a lot of good with the money from what I understand
  • Smaug123 2y ago
    (If the source were available to you, then it would be available to all the other funds, and so it would instantly stop making money.)
  • paulpauper 2y ago
    It is not just one source. probably constant revision
• 22SAS 2y ago
  I work at a trading firm. RIP to the GOAT, the god of quants.Reading about him and RenTec, back in high school, was one of the first things that got me attracted to the field.
• deleted 2y ago
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• brcmthrowaway 2y ago
  RenTech is a CIA front company
  • rustcleaner 2y ago
    Sounds like bull... I'll take three!
  • helsinki 2y ago
    ?
• max_ 2y ago
  He was writing his memoir. I really hope he finnished it, I was looking forward to reading it.
• nybsjytm 2y ago
  Sometimes people act like guys like Bill Gates or Elon Musk are coming from deep personal scientific knowledge and accomplishment, but they're absolutely nothing compared to Simons. His contributions to geometry in the 60s and 70s, from minimal surfaces to Berger's classification of special holonomy to Chern-Simons theory, were fundamental and are still well-remembered. His name would be known even if he'd never gone into finance or philanthropy.
  • lupire 2y ago
    Bill Gates did graduate study in math and computer science as a first-year undergraduate at Harvard College, and published the fastest pancake-sort algorithm (held the record for 30 years), before dropping not to start Microsoft. And of course he invented Microsoft's early technology, which advanced the state of the art. He was highly likely to be a great computer scientist if he chose to stay in school.
    • nybsjytm 2y ago
      I can read both the Gates-Papadimitriou paper and Simons' work, and it doesn't compare. Maybe Gates could have been a great scientist, who knows, but no matter how many advanced classes he took, he never was. It doesn't even matter if he got good grades in them.
  • paulpauper 2y ago
    Bill gates did math 55. legit smart guy
    • nybsjytm 2y ago
      You don't need to be a smart guy to take math 55, nor is 'being a smart guy' what I'm even talking about.
      • paulpauper 2y ago
        maybe you should have written what you meant to talk about
• Tistel 2y ago
  There is a nice book that goes into detail of his life called: "The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution"
• PartiallyTyped 2y ago
  @dang may we have a black banner? thank you.
• rustcleaner 2y ago
  Heads up: website breaks on Fennec with uBlock Origin turned on (and all filters enabled). Website unbreaks when uBlock Origin is turned off. Looks like a new way to punish uBlock.
• rglover 2y ago
  Sorry to hear this. RIP. “Be guided by beauty. I really mean that. Pretty much everything I’ve done has had an aesthetic component, at least to me. Now you might think ‘well, building a company that’s trading bonds, what’s so aesthetic about that?’ But, what’s aesthetic about it is doing it right. Getting the right kind of people, and approaching the problem, and doing it right […] it’s a beautiful thing to do something right.” - Jim Simons
  • 77pt77 2y ago
    This beauty talk really needs to think. With the current status of research it's clear humans have a very problematic relation with what most people think the term means. A new word should really be crafted to disambiguate.
    • gradschoolfail 2y ago
      I have a feeling that when academics or high status people talk about beauty they actually mean “surprising depth”, because I find that both terms as used by these people subconsciously encode a notion that hard work is required, something not fully appreciated by most humans.. (although Simons does tip his hat to that with his “be guided by”.) Anyways high status and academics tend to forget, due to early quality education, that appreciation of the sort of beauty that they refer to is not costfree.
  • xucian 2y ago
    man's a genius, enjoyed each of his interviews. rip
• deleted 2y ago
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• mr_woozy 2y ago
  [dead]
• pm90 2y ago
  https://www.wsj.com/articles/james-simons-robert-mercer-others-at-renaissance-to-pay-7-billion-to-settle-tax-probe-11630617328 https://www.wsj.com/articles/james-simons-robert-mercer-othe...
• misiti3780 2y ago
  RIP. He did a lot of great things w/ his life. Per the books about him, he was a life long smoker. Lucky he got to 86! https://twitter.com/quant_arb/status/1631052354408665091?lang=en https://twitter.com/quant_arb/status/1631052354408665091?lan...
• MP_1729 2y ago
  Simmons is one of the greatest people and a true inspiration as a mathematician, even though my career drifted from academia. He and Andrew Wiles are the reason why I always say I am a mathematician, even though I work elsewhere. RIP
  • 77pt77 2y ago
    Why do you admire Wiles so much?
    • MP_1729 2y ago
      I read Simon Sigh during high schools and that was such a beautiful story of perseveration that I decided to do Math.
• topherPedersen 2y ago
  I'm literally reading the last chapter of "The Man Who Solved the Market" right now. RIP
• dukeofdoom 2y ago
  [flagged]
  • karmakurtisaani 2y ago
    Ask your friend how things look like at his end of the bell curve.
    • dukeofdoom 2y ago
      midwits below
• georgehill 2y ago
  He was a legend. RIP. Maybe a black bar on top of HN?
• goy 2y ago
  One of the greatest. RIP
• benreesman 2y ago
  What a loss. I hope I join the community in wishing the best for his loved ones. But also what a life. He could have quit 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago and been in the history books. What’s now called Chern-Simons is a monumental result in topology that IIRC dates to the mid-60s. Then he empirically disproved the strong-form EMH, a result in economics of which I’m unaware of any peer in its conclusiveness. Then he built SUNY Stoneybrook into possibly the best lab for topology and differential geometry in the world. Geometer, topologist, cryptographer, outspoken and fearless critic of needless war, trader, teacher, monument. Legend. May he rest.
  • benreesman 2y ago
    @dang I think this merits a black bar.
  • anonu 2y ago
    > Then he empirically disproved the strong-form EMH Not clear as we do not really know exactly how RenTech works. It is believed that there are substantial tax loopholes that were taken advantage of - which would go a long way (not all the way) to explaining the incredible performance of his fund.
    • richrichie 2y ago
      Rentec gets a lot of leverage and gets ridiculous pricing on option trades from the banking desks because of the flow they bring.
      • chollida1 2y ago
        > Rentec gets a lot of leverage and gets ridiculous pricing on option trades from the banking desks because of the flow they bring. So do about 200 other funds world wide. Their leverage and sell side pricing isn't what makes them successful, as most other large funds trade as much as them and get atleast the same pricing as they do.
        • 2y ago
• philshem 2y ago
  Here’s a New Yorker profile from 2017 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/18/jim-simons-the-numbers-king https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/18/jim-simons-the...
• therobots927 2y ago
  I was lucky enough to see him speak at the Simons' Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook as an undergrad, even though I had no idea what he was talking about (he was explaining the math behind the sculpture he had contracted for the university). He's always been an inspiration to me and I would strongly recommend (as other commenters already have) the book "The Man who Solved the Market" which gives the history of Renaissance Technologies. Whether it's his career in Math/Physics, or career in the stock market, he was at the top of the game. His contributions to the university in combination with his Philanthropic efforts to improve Math education are likely his greatest contributions to humanity. It's highly likely that my tuition was paid for by someone who worked for him at the Hedge Fund, or maybe even Simons himself. Rest In Peace Jim. :'(
• hellooodarkness 2y ago
  This is a huge loss for both the scientific community and the quant investing community!
• bmitc 2y ago
  While I'm not one to fawn after billionaires, I found his life story and personality really fascinating. He really seemed to maintain a humble approach, and in the Numberphile interview, which is excellent, he really emphasized the notion of luck in success. He donated a ton of money in very targeted ways that have been extremely successful. I think because of his humble approach, lack of self-promotion, etc., he's a bit unknown outside certain circles, but his impact in certain areas has been big. While I wish that our country didn't have to rely on billionaires spearheading initiatives, which often goes the wrong way, Simons was absolutely an example of one of the good ones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0
• seliopou 2y ago
  I went to a Simons Foundation lecture in like 2014. The topic and speaker escapes me now, but at the reception beforehand there there was an old man smoking. At the time I indulged myself so I asked the guy that invited me if I could smoke there too. He said, "only Jim can smoke in here." And that's the first time I had any idea who Jim Simons was.
  • richrichie 2y ago
    Jim never gave a fuck and smoked even in investor meetings.
• abhgh 2y ago
  This is sad news indeed. The Simons Institute [1] in the UC Berkeley campus has had a positive impact in my life in terms of the many high quality talks (both in terms of content and recording quality) that they continue to put up on YouTube [2], while making it free to attend in online or in person (you have to register online). My wife and I have attended quite a few of them in person, and for people like us who are interested in learning but have no direct line into academia, this was one of the few avenues where we could learn what various researchers and research groups were working on, and interact with them. I had heard of the Medallion fund before I was aware of the Simons Institute but I never put the two together till a comment, either here or on reddit, mentioned Jim Simons as the connection. [1] https://simons.berkeley.edu/homepage https://simons.berkeley.edu/homepage [2] https://www.youtube.com/@SimonsInstituteTOC https://www.youtube.com/@SimonsInstituteTOC
• pyrrhotech 2y ago
  Tragic news; he was my personal inspiration for getting into algotrading and founding https://grizzlybulls.com https://grizzlybulls.com. The ultimate counter-example to the Efficient Market Hypothesis. RIP
• rossant 2y ago
  So sad. He seamed like an extraordinary man.
• wwarner 2y ago
  A great scientist. Rest peacefully Prof Simons. He probably deserved the Nobel for Chern-Simons theory.
• EMCymatics 2y ago
  RIP. He was a real cool guy.
• LifeIsBio 2y ago
  Just to add to the list of this Jim Simons did and funded, he also established the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI). "SFARI’s mission is to improve the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders by funding innovative research of the highest quality and relevance." SFARI in turn funds a lot of foundational neurological and rare disease research, since autism is such a common phenotype.
• nunez 2y ago
  This is really sad. Simons definitely had some views I don't agree with, but he was one of the good ones overall. Specifically, I hope the Simons Foundation continues to fund Math for America. My wife participated in this program, and it helped her become an excellent educator while also _significantly_ helping her financially.
  • kolistivra 2y ago
    what views of his do you disagree with?
• xqcgrek2 2y ago
  [flagged]
  • zeptonix 2y ago
    Ran a bunch of stop losses (momentum ignition) while conning everyone into thinking it was all about being a math genius, but what do I know
• sciencesama 2y ago
  Medallion fund
• sciencesama 2y ago
  Need a tracker for medallion fund
• sirobg 2y ago
  Did he share some book recommendations?
• javiramos 2y ago
  If you are interested in learning about the history of Rentech and Jim Simon’s life I highly recommend this podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/renaissance-technologies https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/renaissance-technologies
• doubloon 2y ago
  RIP
• thuum7 2y ago
  RIP, I regularly read quanta magazine. It seems he has supported science a lot.
• chirau 2y ago
  you'd think Jim would get a black bar on this site. What actually is the criteria? Or it just depends on how @dang is feeling. Jim is a hero in science, data, computing and finance. What else did he need to do?
• richrichie 2y ago
  I would not be surprised if RenTec had developed GPT way before OpenAI and kept mum about it.
• sagasu007 2y ago
  I hope there will be people who really like mathematics to inherit his legacy and continue on. The world cannot develop without mathematics
• gembeMx 2y ago
  [dead]
• Wistar 2y ago
  My favorite Simons interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0
• JSimonsIsJCrow 2y ago
  [flagged]