Jim Simons has died

[markgall]

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.

[mycologos]

Hopefully the Simons empire has enough people who will keep executing his vision and stave off bureaucratic rot.

Making money is one thing, but circulating so much of it back through math and science is a great legacy.

[1980phipsi]

Quanta Magazine is also funded by his foundation.

[squirrel6]

Not to mention Math for America, which is one of the best funded organizations of its kind…

[hx2a]

I believe Jim Simons is also one of the founders behind the National Museum of Mathematics in NYC.

https://momath.org/

[hinkley]

His wife also helps run the foundation doesn’t she? Looks like she’s ~73 so hopefully has a few years left.

[rglover]

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

[xucian]

man's a genius, enjoyed each of his interviews. rip

[77pt77]

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.

[tombert]

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]

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).

[PaulHoule]

I remember the time that I went to a conference put on by Sun Microsystems in the early 2000s and asked a question about certain hardware being good for main memory databases which got me jumped on by a RenTech recruiter. Had I known what was about to happen to my current job at that time (mentioned in another comment in this thread) I would have taken more interest.

[sergius]

You should read these books:

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43889703

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25733505

And some of the myths you have may be dispelled :-)

[rcpt]

The phone screen was hard and I didn't pass. It's not usual tech interviews they hit you with a lot of stats and math GRE style questions. Maybe the prep in finance is different

[karmakurtisaani]

RT must be one of the most selective companies in the world. Even to get an interview you'd better have a damn good CV (medals in math/cs/science Olympiads, degree from a top tier school etc.). And then after a few years of working there you're a (multi)millionaire. It's totally bonkers.

[amelius]

I have to confess that I still think that. Where would you recommend I start reading to find financial enlightenment?

[buggythebug]

Why would you think it was a bunch of "finance bros"? You can BS your way to the top in such things as Sales because raw intellect and mental ability is not required. The same can be said for many aspects of finance. But you can't just do HFT or Quant because you want to - you actually need skills. Same way I can't BS my way into designing a rocket - you either can or you can't.

[mhh__]

When have high frequency traders and quants ever been finance bros? Wut?

[benreesman]

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.

[mushufasa]

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

[bcherny]

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

[1] https://a.co/d/5vWBOce

[Schiendelman]

This is by far my favorite podcast series, I’d recommend the ones on Costco, Amazon, and Nvidia as well.

[javiramos]

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.

[keiferski]

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.

[lvkv]

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.

[djoshea]

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-brai...

[CliffStoll]

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.

[chrispeel]

Archive link for original article: https://archive.ph/zIx9b

Simons also funded Quanta magazine: https://www.quantamagazine.org/about/

His Wikipedia page is interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Simons_(mathematician)

[SSLy]

thank you, the page renders empty for me.

[seper8]

https://youtu.be/QNznD9hMEh0?si=XrLiIDUV4WMfIz2V

Interesting Numberphile interview with Jim, if you're not aware who he is

[therobots927]

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. :'(

[mehulashah]

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]

"the machine"? What is "the machine", the economy?

[jjallen]

He took money out of the machine and donated it to good causes. Arguably he was anti machine

[77pt77]

Not only that.

He was intellectual honest and technically exceptional.

[seliopou]

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]

Jim never gave a fuck and smoked even in investor meetings.

[abhgh]

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

[2] https://www.youtube.com/@SimonsInstituteTOC

[elorant]

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/0...

[pibefision]

+1 for this book. It's a great way to understand what he did.

[topherPedersen]

I started reading the last chapter this afternoon.

[paulpauper]

infamous implies bad.

[gnatman]

His interview on Numberphile is great- very smart guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0

[22SAS]

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.

[mfiguiere]

Acquired Podcast did a 3 hours episode on the history of Renaissance Technologies last month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KjW4BqNFy0

[imranq]

"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"

[jetrink]

> 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

[adversaryIdiot]

if only more companies fostered the idea of employee wellbeing

[georgehaake]

Pretty good run for an adult life-long heavy smoker.

[painted-now]

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.