First published 2019
Jim Simons stands as modern finance's greatest money maker. His Renaissance Technologies Medallion fund delivered 66 percent average annual returns since 1988, a record no investor including Warren Buffett or George Soros has matched. Gregory Zuckerman gained unprecedented access to Simons and dozens of current and former Renaissance employees to reveal how this mathematician and former code breaker conquered Wall Street. The book traces Simons's pioneering data-driven approach that now dominates trading worldwide. Zuckerman shows how Renaissance executives shaped politics beyond finance, with Robert Mercer funding Trump's 2016 campaign and backing Brexit. The author examines Simons's influence on scientific research, education, and liberal causes while exploring the unintended consequences of his algorithmic revolution. This account reveals how one man remade markets through mathematical innovation.
Genres: science, business, non-fiction, 21st-century, finance, algorithms
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: biography, disruptive-technology, innovation
Setting: Wall Street
Period: 1988, 2016
359 pages · Paperback · Portfolio Penguin