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Jim Simons has died

simonsfoundation.org

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Re: Jim Simons has died

#161

Post by davrosthedalek »

yau8edq12i wrote: post #155
infecto wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While this thread is by no means as formal of an event. Picture yourself at someones memorial service, before/during/after the service you bring up a topic that is orthogonal to the person's life and frames it about yourself instead of the person being memorialized. Its just a bit weird.

Memorial service? What are you on about? In all likelihood, nobody here had met the guy, and HN would hardly even be on his radar. Picture yourself at a coffee place discussing some celebrity's life event and maybe it won't be so weird anymore.

I think you are underestimating the reach of HN. While I personally didn't know Jim, I know several people who did. And I know many people, me included, who benefited from his generosity and support of science.

Re: Jim Simons has died

#162

Post by bmitc »

m463 wrote: post #156
bmitc wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it's worth, the foundation was actually kickstarted by his wife.

I used to think this kind of thing was because someone didn't care. But I also think someone is at high level, a partner might be the only one who can look at things from above, seeing the big big picture. Of course it could be the person doesn't care, but it could also be the person is busy, etc

I actually think they both cared. My comment was more to point out that she is still alive and is a computer scientist, so the foundation still has founding leadership.

Re: Jim Simons has died

#163

Post by xucian »

rglover wrote: post #113

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 someth…

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

Re: Jim Simons has died

#165

Post by jandrewrogers »

yau8edq12i wrote: post #155
infecto wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While this thread is by no means as formal of an event. Picture yourself at someones memorial service, before/during/after the service you bring up a topic that is orthogonal to the person's life and frames it about yourself instead of the person being memorialized. Its just a bit weird.

Memorial service? What are you on about? In all likelihood, nobody here had met the guy, and HN would hardly even be on his radar. Picture yourself at a coffee place discussing some celebrity's life event and maybe it won't be so weird anymore.

As an anecdote of one, I knew him.

Re: Jim Simons has died

#167

Post by 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.

Re: Jim Simons has died

#169

Post by next_xibalba »

altruios wrote: post #83
mycologos wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

sadly, the trend for these sorts of things is to sour after the original founder leaves... There is an esoteric concept that has some dynamics that explain this phenomenon somewhat. Not to get to into the weeds (the origins of this concept are esoteric religious ideas - I mean this secularly, as it relates to business entities) but the concept is an 'egregore' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egregore#:~:text=An%20egreg…

Simons has been out of day-to-day management for quite some time. He was succeeded by co-CEOs who were then themselves succeeded, IIRC. (These are my recollections from reading The Man Who Solved the Market). Apparently his management style was always pretty hands off and they operated multiple successful quant strategies that were led by others. Their Medallion fund returned 22% after (huge) fees in 2022 according to the WSJ. [1] That's the employee only fund that has blown the doors off for 30+ years. They do have a few other funds that manage much more $ and manage external money that have never performed at Medallion's level. In other words, it seems like succession will not be a major risk for them in the near term.

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-hedge-funds-are-top-perform...

Re: Jim Simons has died

#170

Post by 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. :'(
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