JAMES SIMONS Renaissance Technologies Corp.
$1.7 BILLION
EVEN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL hedge fund managers have to shake their heads in wonderment at the extraordinary continued success of Renaissance Technologies Corp. founder James Simons. Last year his $6 billion Medallion fund posted a 44 percent return after fees, easily exceeding its roughly 36 percent average annualized net return since he launched the quant-based fund in 1988. What makes his performance all the more impressive is that the 69-year-old Simons, who has a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, and once worked as a code breaker for the U.S. Department of Defense, charges a hefty 5 percent management fee and 44 percent performance fee. (The gross return was an astonishing 79 percent.) With $1.7 billion in estimated earnings, Simons tops our list of the best-paid managers for the second straight year.
Medallion, which is closed to outside investors, uses...
