KGC

The NSA hired Jim Simons to crack Soviet codes. He got fired.

While smoking 2 to 3 packs a day, he built a fund that averaged 66% a year for 30 years, made $31 billion, and never hired a single person from Wall Street.

Meet the chain-smoking mathematician behind the greatest hedge fund ever made

Timeline:

• PhD from Berkeley at 23

• Hired by the NSA to crack Soviet codes during the Cold War

• Fired for opposing the Vietnam War

• Founded Renaissance Technologies in 1978

• Launched the Medallion Fund: 66% annual returns, 30 years straight

• Hired only mathematicians, physicists, and codebreakers.

• Net worth peaked at $31 billion

• Passed away in May 2024 at age 86

His algorithms still trade today. Here's what they're buying now:

$Palantir Tech(PLTR.US) — Palantir, the AI defense contractor. 17.5% of portfolio, up 225%

$United Therap(UTHR.US) — United Therapeutics, a biotech building lab-grown organs. Up 109%

$Kinross Gold(KGC.US) — Kinross Gold, a gold miner. Up 96%

$Exelixis(EXEL.US) — Exelixis, an oncology company most people have never heard of. Up 51%

A mathematician who changed Wall Street forever. Rest easy, Jim. The fund lives on