The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

Gregory Zuckerman tells the story of Jim Simons, a mathematician who pioneered algorithmic trading and became the greatest money maker in modern financial history. Since 1988, Renaissance's Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66 percent, outperforming investors including Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Ray Dalio, Steve Cohen, and George Soros. The firm has earned profits exceeding $100 billion. Drawing on unprecedented access to Simons and current and former Renaissance employees, Zuckerman, a veteran Wall Street Journal investigative reporter, examines how Simons—a former code breaker—mastered the market through a data-driven, algorithmic approach. As Renaissance became a market force, its executives expanded their influence beyond finance. Simons became a major figure in scientific research, education, and liberal politics. Senior executive Robert Mercer played a significant role in the Trump presidency, placing Steve Bannon in the campaign and funding Trump's 2016 effort. Mercer also impacted the Brexit campaign. The book explores how Simons remade markets in his own image, but failed to anticipate how his success would impact his firm and his country, and what his revolution will mean long after his death in 2024.