James Harris Simons

Who is James Harris Simons?

James Harris "Jim" Simons is an American mathematician, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. Considering his background as a code breaker and an expert in pattern recognition some also consider him as one of the pioneers of financial signal processing.

Simons taught mathematics at Stony Brook University on Long Island in New York.

In 1982, Simons founded Renaissance Technologies, a private hedge fund investment company based in New York with over $15 billion under management. Simons retired at the end of 2009 as CEO of one of the world's most successful hedge fund companies. Simons' net worth is estimated to be $12.5 billion.

Simons lives with his wife Marilyn H. Simons in Manhattan and Long Island, and is the father of five children; two of his children died young under tragic circumstances—a drowning and an auto accident.

Simons shuns the limelight and rarely gives interviews, citing Benjamin the Donkey in Animal Farm for explanation: "God gave me a tail to keep off the flies. But I'd rather have had no tail and no flies." On October 10, 2009, Simons announced he would retire on January 1, 2010 but remain at Renaissance as nonexecutive chairman.