The sudden passing of the 86-year-old American "math whiz" has sent shockwaves through both the academic and industrial sectors.
Prominent figures in mathematics, computer science, physics, and finance are all posting tributes to mourn the loss.
Math prodigy Terence Tao is considered pivotal in investing in the modern infrastructure of mathematics and science:
The foundation he established not only plays a significant role in funding arXiv but also supports major institutions like the SLMath Research Institute (formerly MSRI) and the upcoming 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) to be held in Philadelphia.
Over the past decade, I have been fortunate to receive support from the Simons Investigator Award, greatly advancing numerous research projects within my team at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Clifford Asness, founder of AQR Capital Management, commented:
Churchill once said greatness and goodness are rarely found in one person. James Simons, or "Simons," is an exception to this rule.
Chen Baoquan, Vice Dean of Peking University's School of Artificial Intelligence, referred to him as the "pioneer of quantitative trading, making money faster with mathematical models than a printing press."
So who is James Simons exactly?
He is the pioneer of quantitative trading, known as the "Quant King," who founded the Wall Street legend Renaissance Technologies. Under this umbrella, the first fund product, Medallion, achieved an average annual return of 66% over 30 years.
He is a mathematical genius, having taught at MIT and Harvard, won the Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry, and collaborated with Chen-Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee.
He is also a philanthropist, establishing the Simons Foundation and donating a building named "Chen-Simons Hall" to Tsinghua University, supporting projects across various fields such as biology, mathematics, physics, theoretical computer science, and neuroscience.
Describing his own life, he once said:
I did a lot of math. I made a lot of money, and I gave almost all of it away.
The legendary life of James Simons has just come to a close, but his achievements and influence continue to resonate.
Making money faster with mathematical models than a printing press
Among Simons' many legendary experiences, the most acclaimed is the founding of Renaissance Technologies, pioneering quantitative trading.
Quantitative trading, in simple terms, involves using mathematical models to guide trading decisions, with one-third of all trades on Wall Street now utilizing this method.
Using mathematical models, Simons turned four investment funds into "virtual printing presses," with one fund named Medallion achieving an average annual return of 66% over 30 years.
Beyond using mathematics as a tool to create Wall Street legends, Simons has also made significant contributions to the field of mathematics itself, being hailed by Terence Tao as a prominent differential geometer.
The driving force behind this was his early passion for mathematics.
Born in April 1938 in Newton, Massachusetts, Simons showed a keen interest in mathematics from a young age. Even his pastime activities were somewhat unconventional - sometimes delving into numbers repeatedly and pondering Zeno's paradoxes (a series of philosophical puzzles about motion and space).
Driven by his interests, Simons became a mathematical genius. In 1958, at the young age of 20, he completed his undergraduate studies at MIT.
Not only did he graduate early with his bachelor's degree, but Simons also completed his doctoral studies in just three years - in 1961, he obtained his Ph.D. in mathematics from UC Berkeley with a new proof on the completeness group classification of Riemannian manifolds, and subsequently taught at MIT and Harvard.
However, Simons' first stint as a professor was short-lived as he was recruited for code-breaking work and later dismissed from the institute in 1968.
Fortunately, during this period, Simons did not abandon his mathematical research. Coupled with his previous brilliant experiences, after being dismissed, an olive branch was extended to him, inviting him to serve as the head of the Mathematics Department at Stony Brook University (State University of New York at Stony Brook).
It was here that Simons experienced his first major highlight in life.
In 1974, he and Chen-Ning Yang jointly published a paper titled "Characteristic Forms and Geometric Invariants," proposing the geometric measurement of the Chern-Simons invariants.
At that time, they did not realize that their work would not only have an impact in the field of mathematics but also in quantum field theory, string theory, and condensed matter physics.
In 1976, Simons received the Oswald Veblen Prize from the American Mathematical Society for this research, the highest honor in geometry in the United States.
Later, their findings were used by American theoretical physicist and 1990 Fields Medalist Edward Witten to develop the Chern-Simons theory.
In 2016, three physicists from the UK and the US used the Chern-Simons theory to describe fractional quantum Hall effects, earning them the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics.
However, Simons once mentioned in a TED talk that he and Chen-Ning Yang "know nothing about physics" and never imagined their discoveries would be applied in physics, but they were pleased with the outcome. However, "physics-illiterate" Simmons had actually collaborated with physicists firsthand, and one of these physicists was Yang Zhenning.
At that time, Yang Zhenning had already won the Nobel Prize for his theory of "parity non-conservation," but he was not satisfied with just that. He wanted to establish a larger gauge field theory, which became known as the Yang-Mills equations, considered the "cornerstone of modern physics."
During this process, Yang Zhenning encountered some mathematical difficulties. In this context, through interdisciplinary collaboration, Simmons provided important inspiration to Yang Zhenning, ultimately leading to the establishment of the theory.
In a conventional script, Simmons would have continued to excel in mathematics and achieve even greater success in the field. However, just two years after receiving an award, Simmons left academia.
This was not due to a loss of interest in mathematics but rather a desire to cross boundaries and apply his passion for mathematics to a broader field. He chose finance as his "experimental subject," an area he had never explored before.
In 1978, Simmons officially left academia and founded the investment company Monemetrics, which later became the renowned hedge fund Renaissance Technologies (Rentec).
Subsequently, there emerged the story of Simmons using mathematical models to create four funds. By the time he retired as CEO of Renaissance in 2010, his personal assets had reached $11 billion.
Most of the money he earned was also used for charitable purposes. In 1994, he and his wife Marilyn established the Simmons Foundation.
By 2003, the foundation's first funding project was successful, primarily focused on autism research.
As the foundation expanded, Simmons broadened the scope of funded projects, covering biology, mathematics, physics, theoretical computer science, neuroscience, scientific outreach, and education. Recipients of the foundation's support went on to receive Nobel Prizes, Fields Medals, and other top honors in various fields. The foundation also became a significant supporter of the arXiv platform.
In 2011, on the occasion of Tsinghua University's 110th anniversary, to commemorate the collaboration between Simmons and two Tsinghua alumni - Chen Xingshen and Yang Zhenning, Simmons donated a building named "Chen-Simmons Building" to Tsinghua.
In 2016, the International Astronomical Union named the asteroid 6618, discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1936, after Simmons to honor his contributions to mathematics and philanthropy.
In 2023, Simmons made a single donation of $500 million to Stony Brook University, where he had previously taught, setting a record for the largest donation to a U.S. university.
"My life is either aces or deuces."
Before his passing, Simmons' net worth was estimated at around $31.4 billion, ranking 55th on the 2024 Forbes Global Billionaires list.
However, behind the billionaire status and numerous achievements, Simmons had lesser-known experiences.
Like most people, Simmons had his lows and faced doubts.
When he initially abandoned his academic career to establish Monemetrics, he had never taken a finance course and only had a passing interest in the market. But he believed in himself, confident that a small team composed of mathematicians, physicists, and statisticians (mainly former university colleagues) could analyze financial data, identify market trends, and engage in profitable trading.
For a long time, stocks and bonds had been the exclusive domain of Wall Street brokerage firms, investment banks, and mutual fund companies. These institutions had young, energetic MBA analysts who would deliver research on listed companies to seasoned wealth managers, who would then select market winners based on experience and intuition.
Initially, faced with Simmons' team and their quantitative methods, these financial experts dismissed them.
Several times, Simmons' methods led to costly mistakes.
For instance, the company once bought a large amount of Maine potato futures through a computer program, nearly monopolizing the market. This operation drew opposition from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Ultimately, Simmons and his team had to sell their investments in Maine potato futures, missing out on significant potential profits.
Apart from his career, Simmons also faced challenges in his personal life.
In 1996, his eldest son Paul Simons, aged 34, died in a cycling accident; in 2003, his 24-year-old son Nicholas Simons drowned in Bali. Additionally, he and his ex-wife had two children, and he had a daughter with his wife Marilyn Hawrys.
Simmons once confided to a friend: "My life is either aces or deuces."
Despite this, Simmons remained passionate about what he wanted to do. In a speech at MIT, Simmons shared his five principles:
Do something novel, don't just go with the flow; Surround yourself with the smartest people you can find; Let beauty guide the way; Don't give up easily; Expect good luck.
