Jame Simons, the billionaire mathematician-investor, famously known in finance for creating the world’s greatest moneymaking machine at his secretive firm, Renaissance Technologies, passed away at the age of 86. On Friday, May 11, his foundation issued a statement about his death. He was a renowned Cold War code-breaker and founder of one of the world’s most established and profitable hedge funds.
The Simons Foundation took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to announce the death of its founder without disclosing the cause of his death. The post read, “It is with great sadness that the Simons Foundation announces the death of its co-founder and chair emeritus, James Harris Simons. Jim was an award-winning mathematician, a legendary investor and a generous philanthropist.”
Also read: Simons Foundation co-founder, investor James Harris Simons dies at 86
Simons who chose to be alternatively known as Jim sought investing after trying his hands at teaching mathematics and working in US intelligence. James became well-known by the pseudo name “Quant King” after earning recognition for his pioneering skills that dictated immaculate use of computer signals for trading decisions.
Also read: ‘Billionaire Raj’ is pushing India toward autocracy
His net worth equates to $31 billion as estimated by Forbes. Simons was a leading philanthropist who gave away billions of dollars during his lifetime to support medical and science research and teaching.
Top 8 quotes from the legend
Let’s have a look at top ten quotes from the award-winning mathematician, a legendary investor and a generous philanthropist.
“I wasn’t the fastest guy in the world. I wouldn’t have done well in an Olympiad or a math contest. But I like to ponder. And pondering things, just sort of thinking about it and thinking about it, turns out to be a pretty good approach.”
“One can predict the course of a comet more easily than one can predict the course of Citigroup’s stock. The attractiveness, of course, is that you can make more money successfully predicting a stock than you can a comet.”
Also read: ‘Wealth tax could send billionaires from India to Dubai, impractical,’ says economist on Rahul Gandhi’s proposal
“In this business it’s easy to confuse luck with brains.”
“Those kinds of times… when everyone is running around like a chicken with its head cut off, that’s pretty good for us… “
“We have three criteria: If it’s publicly traded, liquid and amenable to modelling, we trade it.”
“I want a guy who knows enough math so that he can use those tools effectively but has a curiosity about how things work and enough imagination and tenacity to dope it out.”
“I have one guy who has a Ph.D. in finance. We don’t hire people from business schools. We don’t hire people from Wall Street. We hire people who have done good science.”
“Luck, is largely responsible for my reputation for genius. I don’t walk into the office in the morning and say, ‘Am I smart today?’ I walk in and wonder, ‘Am I lucky today?’”
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it’s all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Published: 11 May 2024, 12:38 PM IST
