#51

Jim Simons

United States 88 years old Self-Made

Overview

Source of Wealth: Hedge funds
Industry: Finance & Investments
Residence
Organization: Founder at Renaissance Technologies Corp.
Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Bachelor of Arts/Science)
University of California, Berkeley (Doctorate)
Children: 3

Jim Simons is the founder of Renaissance Technologies, an esteemed quantitative trading hedge fund firm that manages about $50 billion.

He founded Renaissance Technologies in 1982 and retired in 2010, but he still plays a role at Renaissance and benefits from its funds.

Renaissance Technologies is famous for its Medallion Fund, a $10 billion black-box strategy that is only open to Renaissance's owners and employees.

Simons has given $6 billion to philanthropic causes. His foundation is the primary funder of Math For America. He also supports autism research.

In September 2021, Renaissance executives agreed to pay $7 billion to the IRS to settle a tax dispute over trades made by the Medallion Fund.

Simons used to chair the math department at Stony Brook University and was a codebreaker for the U.S. during the Vietnam War.