The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution
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- Create Date：2021-05-22 08:53:29
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Gregory Zuckerman
- ISBN：073521798X
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Summary
Gregory Zuckerman， the bestselling author of The Greatest Trade Ever and The Frackers， answers the question investors have been asking for decades: How did Jim Simons do it？
Shortlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
Jim Simons is the greatest money maker in modern financial history。 No other investor--Warren Buffett， Peter Lynch， Ray Dalio， Steve Cohen， or George Soros--can touch his record。 Since 1988， Renaissance's signature Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66 percent。 The firm has earned profits of more than $100 billion; Simons is worth twenty-three billion dollars。
Drawing on unprecedented access to Simons and dozens of current and former employees， Zuckerman， a veteran Wall Street Journal investigative reporter， tells the gripping story of how a world-class mathematician and former code breaker mastered the market。 Simons pioneered a data-driven， algorithmic approach that's sweeping the world。
As Renaissance became a market force， its executives began influencing the world beyond finance。 Simons became a major figure in scientific research， education， and liberal politics。 Senior executive Robert Mercer is more responsible than anyone else for the Trump presidency， placing Steve Bannon in the campaign and funding Trump's victorious 2016 effort。 Mercer also impacted the campaign behind Brexit。
The Man Who Solved the Market is a portrait of a modern-day Midas who remade markets in his own image， but failed to anticipate how his success would impact his firm and his country。 It's also a story of what Simons's revolution means for the rest of us。
Shortlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
Jim Simons is the greatest money maker in modern financial history。 No other investor--Warren Buffett， Peter Lynch， Ray Dalio， Steve Cohen， or George Soros--can touch his record。 Since 1988， Renaissance's signature Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66 percent。 The firm has earned profits of more than $100 billion; Simons is worth twenty-three billion dollars。
Drawing on unprecedented access to Simons and dozens of current and former employees， Zuckerman， a veteran Wall Street Journal investigative reporter， tells the gripping story of how a world-class mathematician and former code breaker mastered the market。 Simons pioneered a data-driven， algorithmic approach that's sweeping the world。
As Renaissance became a market force， its executives began influencing the world beyond finance。 Simons became a major figure in scientific research， education， and liberal politics。 Senior executive Robert Mercer is more responsible than anyone else for the Trump presidency， placing Steve Bannon in the campaign and funding Trump's victorious 2016 effort。 Mercer also impacted the campaign behind Brexit。
The Man Who Solved the Market is a portrait of a modern-day Midas who remade markets in his own image， but failed to anticipate how his success would impact his firm and his country。 It's also a story of what Simons's revolution means for the rest of us。
Reviews
Brendan
，
I wish I liked this more。 It started in a promising way: a young-ish mathematician trying to make his way in the world of finance。 However， it quickly became apparent that the author had nothing to say。 His fluid writing style notwithstanding， there is very little verifiable information in here and almost nothing about how Jim “solved the market。” Sure， he used algorithms and kernels and other mathematical concepts （that it is pretty clear are kept to a minimum because the author doesn’t underst I wish I liked this more。 It started in a promising way: a young-ish mathematician trying to make his way in the world of finance。 However， it quickly became apparent that the author had nothing to say。 His fluid writing style notwithstanding， there is very little verifiable information in here and almost nothing about how Jim “solved the market。” Sure， he used algorithms and kernels and other mathematical concepts （that it is pretty clear are kept to a minimum because the author doesn’t understand them）， but how did he use them？ A disclaimer that discusses the secretive nature of Simons and RenTech does not excuse poor execution。Unfortunately， when the author does have something to say it turns out to be boilerplate political information。 It may be relevant。。。but only if you squint and tilt your head。Engaging storytelling without much content for the first 60%， then it really falls off the rails as it comes to a close。 。。。more
Aaklit taneja
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This is a story about persévérance， grit and passion。 This is not a story about being flexible， growth and adapting。 What Jim Simons teaches you is how he stuck to what he felt was the right thing even if it goes against the whole philosophy of financial markets。 No doubt there’s a huge mathematical expertise but it’s so inclined that it exposes the blind spots of single field expertise。 What it doesn’t help is help you figure out how he could’ve done better。 As a book it’s a great read， it’s a This is a story about persévérance， grit and passion。 This is not a story about being flexible， growth and adapting。 What Jim Simons teaches you is how he stuck to what he felt was the right thing even if it goes against the whole philosophy of financial markets。 No doubt there’s a huge mathematical expertise but it’s so inclined that it exposes the blind spots of single field expertise。 What it doesn’t help is help you figure out how he could’ve done better。 As a book it’s a great read， it’s a great starting point to dive into this wonderful life story and then take the initiative to do your research and figure out alternate possibilities。 Don’t get into it to learn about a new world， get into it to discover a new world you’ll learn more about when you delve deeper。 Definitely recommend it to anyone who likes modeling life as a model。 It’ll expose why and how you’ll go wrong。 。。。more
Bùi Hà
，
A lively biography of James Simons， the found of Medallion fund， who has revolutionized the hedge fund industry。
George
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My interest in Python and investing got me into this book。 Jim Simons is legend， in terms of mathematics （his previous tenure at the NSA as a code breaker） and quant investing as founder of Renaissance Technologies， an 'invitation only' investment hedge fund that produces staggering returns。 Will read this again， and keep working on my Python skills while finishing off a Python project to detect malicious email communications。 My interest in Python and investing got me into this book。 Jim Simons is legend， in terms of mathematics （his previous tenure at the NSA as a code breaker） and quant investing as founder of Renaissance Technologies， an 'invitation only' investment hedge fund that produces staggering returns。 Will read this again， and keep working on my Python skills while finishing off a Python project to detect malicious email communications。 。。。more
Joe
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A fun page-turner about the most successful man （mostly team） you’ve probably never heard of， Jim Simons。 How this mathematician-turned-hedge-fund-manager started the field of quantitative investing is pretty entertaining。
SANTIAGO BOCANEGRA
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Anecdotal。 Is is a 300 page newspaper article。 There are no deep insights on Renaissance。。。 Just a collection different of novelist intrigues。
Hamzah Randhawa
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And I thought MNC's ran the world。。。30 years ahead of every AI research paper， I wonder what their code looks like。 And I thought MNC's ran the world。。。30 years ahead of every AI research paper， I wonder what their code looks like。 。。。more
John Doe
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The second part of the book is a bit of shock to me，I picked this book as some kind of anecdote stories for smart successful people， and didn't think it went to 2016 politics and donald trump Cambridge analytical all that stuff，just shocking，and speechless。 all I can say is， what a life。 The second part of the book is a bit of shock to me，I picked this book as some kind of anecdote stories for smart successful people， and didn't think it went to 2016 politics and donald trump Cambridge analytical all that stuff，just shocking，and speechless。 all I can say is， what a life。 。。。more
Lori
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Very interesting view into the most successful hedge fund of all time。 Might be a little boring for some people， but I work with data scientists who program machine learning algorithms。 Such smart， quirky， fascinating， intelligent people。 I just love to listen to them banter， that probably why I really enjoyed this book。 It’s just amazing what computers can do。。。。almost scary really。 Good book！！
Dao Le
，
Fascinating tale of a former government code-breaker， award-winning mathematician turned one of the most successful hedge fund manager。 For three decades， Jim Simons' Medallion fund earned an eye-popping 39% net return after an exorbitant 5-and-44 fee structure， dwarfing over Buffet's 20。5% net performance since 1965。 Pioneering quantitative investing， Simons' team of brilliant mathematicians， rocket scientists， and theoretical physicists rely on complex algorithm instead of human judgement to v Fascinating tale of a former government code-breaker， award-winning mathematician turned one of the most successful hedge fund manager。 For three decades， Jim Simons' Medallion fund earned an eye-popping 39% net return after an exorbitant 5-and-44 fee structure， dwarfing over Buffet's 20。5% net performance since 1965。 Pioneering quantitative investing， Simons' team of brilliant mathematicians， rocket scientists， and theoretical physicists rely on complex algorithm instead of human judgement to violate and exploit the weak-form efficient market hypothesis。 Make no mistake to think that beating the market is easy - Simons admitted that they only have a 0。7% edge， meaning that they are only betting correctly on 50。7% of their trade。 However， on those winning trades， they are correct 100% of the time。One question is left hanging in the air after reading this book， one that the author tactfully alluded to at the end: exactly what societal purpose does a quant hedge fund serve？ While capital markets allow for efficient allocation of capital to productive enterprises， this is a truly zero-sum game。 Perhaps one could make an argument for distributive justice through accumulation of wealth， like how Simons used his billions trying to cure autism， support high-school math teachers， and find the origin of the universe， but on the other hand Robert Mercer used his millions propelling Donald Trump to the presidency。 Something to think about。 。。。more
Breaux
，
Enjoyed learning about how a math guy pioneered quantitative investing by harnessing the power of computers and recruiting a team of math guys and computer guys。 They became super wealthy and influential in politics and one had a lot to do with getting President Trump elected。 This guy， Mercer， had some pretty fringe views according to the book， and it just goes to show you how someone can be super smart in one are like math and still lack a type of wisdom or smarts when it comes to what’s best Enjoyed learning about how a math guy pioneered quantitative investing by harnessing the power of computers and recruiting a team of math guys and computer guys。 They became super wealthy and influential in politics and one had a lot to do with getting President Trump elected。 This guy， Mercer， had some pretty fringe views according to the book， and it just goes to show you how someone can be super smart in one are like math and still lack a type of wisdom or smarts when it comes to what’s best in government or in dealing with groups of people。 。。。more
Stephen
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Simons makes money on fees like most money managers， I did not find this book very interesting
Ashutosh
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Catchy title with too much fluff。 I stopped reading it midway。 It seemed like most of the first half of the book had a recurring theme: Some math genius starts exploring financial markets， gets addicted to it， messes up his/her personal lives， is unsure about the future， and unhappy most of the time， but becomes wealthy。 I am not sure if it was just me， but the writing felt like someone was writing a screenplay of a mockumentary - Straus was making an annual salary of less than $20，000， had l Catchy title with too much fluff。 I stopped reading it midway。 It seemed like most of the first half of the book had a recurring theme: Some math genius starts exploring financial markets， gets addicted to it， messes up his/her personal lives， is unsure about the future， and unhappy most of the time， but becomes wealthy。 I am not sure if it was just me， but the writing felt like someone was writing a screenplay of a mockumentary - Straus was making an annual salary of less than $20，000， had little opportunity for advancement， and was unsure about his future。 “I wasn’t super happy，” he says。 。。。more
Holly
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Combo of biography of an uncooperative subject and history of the development of modern financial market strategy。 Confirmed that the denizens of Wall Street are both far more sophisticated and much less innovative than one might expect。 Also interesting to find the origin stories of Bob Mercer and Jeff Bezos included。
Jamon
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I liked a quote that said they made money based on people's reactions to markets， by tracking。。。。。relationships， trends etc。It was interesting to see growth and iterations to see how they approached the market。 From an innovation standpoint， they benefitted by being less wall streeters and more mathematicians。The leaders also had the humility to take corrections， which were amazing in a high stakes of financial trading。first half was slow in the set up but the last 25% was fascinating。 I liked a quote that said they made money based on people's reactions to markets， by tracking。。。。。relationships， trends etc。It was interesting to see growth and iterations to see how they approached the market。 From an innovation standpoint， they benefitted by being less wall streeters and more mathematicians。The leaders also had the humility to take corrections， which were amazing in a high stakes of financial trading。first half was slow in the set up but the last 25% was fascinating。 。。。more
Aaron Decker
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Excellent book， took an interesting turn at the end with the 2016 election donation saga of Mercer vs Simons。
Joris Vankerschaver
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Interesting book about the OG of quantitative finance， Jim Simons， and the people that surrounded him through various parts of his diverse career。 The book does a good job of highlighting the competitive， quantitative nature of the various people involved （these are the guys that run a hedge fund by day and play some high-stakes poker by night to keep the adrenaline flowing）， with some notable exceptions （I didn't know that Lenny Baum， of Baum-Welch fame， was a hedge fund operator， and found his Interesting book about the OG of quantitative finance， Jim Simons， and the people that surrounded him through various parts of his diverse career。 The book does a good job of highlighting the competitive， quantitative nature of the various people involved （these are the guys that run a hedge fund by day and play some high-stakes poker by night to keep the adrenaline flowing）， with some notable exceptions （I didn't know that Lenny Baum， of Baum-Welch fame， was a hedge fund operator， and found his economics-focused approach of "buy low and 。。。 do nothing" endearing）。 。。。more
Alec Rill
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Amazing！ I knew there were quants on Wall Street but I had no idea what they did。 This is an excellent book about a wonderful man （and very not wonderful second man， Mercer！）
Dominik
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I'm a fan of Jim Simons and the mysterious quant investing。 However， the book has proven to be a biography which has focused on how difficult it is to live and work with hyper-intelligent people。 There is not much essence to the secret sauce of the Rennaissance Fund。 On top of that last 1/4 of the book focuses on the recent political calamities and is just a waste of time。 Seems like the author added it only to increase the book's word count or the number of pages。This book will not age well。。。 I'm a fan of Jim Simons and the mysterious quant investing。 However， the book has proven to be a biography which has focused on how difficult it is to live and work with hyper-intelligent people。 There is not much essence to the secret sauce of the Rennaissance Fund。 On top of that last 1/4 of the book focuses on the recent political calamities and is just a waste of time。 Seems like the author added it only to increase the book's word count or the number of pages。This book will not age well。。。 。。。more
Farid Medleg
，
Ultimately， I was a little disappointed with this book。 Based on the title and the prologue， I assumed it would involve more analysis of the modelling and methods of investing that took Renaissance to the top of the investing world。 While there is a moderate amount of discussion around this， it is almost done in passing， as if Zuckerman was not interested in those details。 He instead focuses on the people involved in Simons' life who made his achievements possible。 In fact， the majority of this Ultimately， I was a little disappointed with this book。 Based on the title and the prologue， I assumed it would involve more analysis of the modelling and methods of investing that took Renaissance to the top of the investing world。 While there is a moderate amount of discussion around this， it is almost done in passing， as if Zuckerman was not interested in those details。 He instead focuses on the people involved in Simons' life who made his achievements possible。 In fact， the majority of this book's pages are dedicated to their backgrounds and involvement。 Overall， the book is well-constructed and interesting， not to mention an easy read that can be enjoyed by the layperson。 However， it lacks the punch of an insider's look into the world of Renaissance and Medallion， which would have made the story truly enthralling。 This is probably not Zuckerman's fault， who is a diligent and entertaining author， but it is a fault nonetheless。 。。。more
Arne
，
Better than frackersInteresting characters pop up throughoutLacks （more） first person input from the man himself maybe？Would not really recommend
Mike Gao
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I routinely read Greg Zuckerman's articles in the WSJ and was excited when he released a book。 This is a fascinating account of one of the most successful/mysterious investors in history。 What struck me the most from the book is that - despite being arguably the premier quant investor， Simons was not infallible to human emotions when it came to his own portfolio。 In the book， Simons was supposedly frantically calling his personal wealth advisor （which is shocking on its own that he has one） duri I routinely read Greg Zuckerman's articles in the WSJ and was excited when he released a book。 This is a fascinating account of one of the most successful/mysterious investors in history。 What struck me the most from the book is that - despite being arguably the premier quant investor， Simons was not infallible to human emotions when it came to his own portfolio。 In the book， Simons was supposedly frantically calling his personal wealth advisor （which is shocking on its own that he has one） during a period of market turmoil， and asking his advisor what he should be doing with his portfolio。 。。。more
Jeffrey
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Zuckerman writes an entertaining account of Jim Simons and the rise of his firm Renaissance Techonology - which has garnered the best returns in recent history （with the Medallion Fund closed to outside investors）。 The Man Who Solved the Market is not overly technical， although the necessary jargon is well explained， but in addition to just outlining Renaissance's history and colourful stories， Zuckerman also does a good job teasing out some big picture issues that Renaissance's rise entails: wh Zuckerman writes an entertaining account of Jim Simons and the rise of his firm Renaissance Techonology - which has garnered the best returns in recent history （with the Medallion Fund closed to outside investors）。 The Man Who Solved the Market is not overly technical， although the necessary jargon is well explained， but in addition to just outlining Renaissance's history and colourful stories， Zuckerman also does a good job teasing out some big picture issues that Renaissance's rise entails: what does it mean for the future of investing; what are the implications of the brain drain from academia to finance; what implications does the ability to amass such wealth have for the rest of society？In many ways， the story of Renaissance encompasses the complex and juxtaposing issues at large - the world is more complicated than humans can comprehend， with Renaissance's edge in spotting patterns that others cannot - so called multidimensional anomalies。 As one at the firm described it: “These relationships have to exist， since companies are interconnected in complex ways。 This interconnectedness is hard to model and predict with accuracy， and it changes over time。 RenTec has built a machine to model this interconnectedness， track its behavior over time， and bet on when prices seem out of whack according to these models。”（p273）At the same time， Simons has exercised judgment to override his models - recognising what other could not， for example: “LCTM’s basic error was believing its models were truth。 We never believed our models reflected reality – just some aspects of reality。” （p213） Another consideration is what happens when a significant proportion of market participants are automated trading system trading against one another， do the relationships discovered still hold in this regime？ For me， the message is that the future of investing will continue to depend on both humans and machines - despite the algorithms Renaissance employs， the account only reinforces that its key assets are the people it employs。 This is reinforced by focus Simons took to keep the peace at the firm， by asking Mercer to step down。 （Indeed it seems that the rift that this caused in the firm was the opening that gave Zuckerman access to some of those who worked at the firm。） From his days working for the government: "Simons was struck by the unique way talented researchers were recruited and managed in his unit。 Staff members， most of whom had doctorates， were hired for their brain power， creativity， and ambition， rather than for any specific expertise of background。 The assumption was that researchers would find problems to work on and be clever enough to solve them。" （p24-5）Zuckerman's exploration of implications for society with the rise of Renaissance and quantitative investing is also well done。 He notes the irony that Simons devotes a lot of a lot of his philanthropic efforts to improving the quality of maths and science education in schools， lobbying politicians for more funding and also paying stipends to retain the best teachers。 But at the same time Renaissance employs strategies to minimise its taxes and also draws away from academia some of the smartest minds。 On the other side of the political spectrum， is Mercer who has used the wealth that he has accumulated to fund far right causes - including the Trump and Brexit campaigns。 Both of which utilised his money and expertise in data to great effect， highlighting their power not just in finance but society at large。I don't think that any of the questions that Zuckerman poses are answered， but that is because there are probably not clear cut answers。 Like Renaissance， they involve the intersection of many complex issues。 By teasing out these subtleties， Zuckerman has really used the history of Renaissance as a springboard， while also present a well-researched account of the history of the firm。 。。。more
Liam
，
This is a well written history of Renaissance Technologies and it's evolution。 It was a bit too non-technical for my liking， with some aspects of finance/programming covered shallowly。 Nonetheless， it was a fascinating story， learned a bunch about a slew of interesting characters。 This is a well written history of Renaissance Technologies and it's evolution。 It was a bit too non-technical for my liking， with some aspects of finance/programming covered shallowly。 Nonetheless， it was a fascinating story， learned a bunch about a slew of interesting characters。 。。。more
Oscar Dent
，
A fascinating read， very digestible to those with no prior knowledge on Jim and hi methods， with plenty of story surrounding the people surrounding the algorithms。 At the same time for those more focused on the work， there is some information on the techniques used to achieve such stellar results。 However， there is a slight dearth of information of any in-depth nature around the algorithms themselves; but this is inherent with the source material， and the secrecy of Renaissance。 Can't fault the A fascinating read， very digestible to those with no prior knowledge on Jim and hi methods， with plenty of story surrounding the people surrounding the algorithms。 At the same time for those more focused on the work， there is some information on the techniques used to achieve such stellar results。 However， there is a slight dearth of information of any in-depth nature around the algorithms themselves; but this is inherent with the source material， and the secrecy of Renaissance。 Can't fault the author for this。 。。。more
Saifuddin Shaik
，
Understanding the stock market with fundamentals has been a pursuit of many， but not understanding it and just flowing with the correlations is another perspective。Humans always react the same， we are still primitive in our instincts and evolution hasn’t caught up the market。 Simons and their team were at this very pursuit of automation of the trading in the market to make money。The book nicely puts up the story with characters coming in and going。 Keeping the technicalities away Zuckerman did a Understanding the stock market with fundamentals has been a pursuit of many， but not understanding it and just flowing with the correlations is another perspective。Humans always react the same， we are still primitive in our instincts and evolution hasn’t caught up the market。 Simons and their team were at this very pursuit of automation of the trading in the market to make money。The book nicely puts up the story with characters coming in and going。 Keeping the technicalities away Zuckerman did a splendid job。 。。。more
Jared
，
This should be an interesting topic， but the author failed miserably in executing。 Very little value offered here so I would not recommend this to anyone。 I am disappointed。
Nic Ryan
，
Excusing the extended political tangent towards the end， it was a nice read。
Vikramjit Singh
，
First part is interesting - tells most of the things a person may get to know about other person and their hardships to achieve what they achieved。 Second part could have been shorter in my opinion。
Rick Wilson
，