On Friday, May 10, Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis announced that Jim Simons, prominent Long Island billionaire, hedge fund manager, mathematician, and philanthropist, has passed away at the age of 86 in New York City.
Simons was the founder East Setauket, New York-based Renaissance Technologies, a quantitative hedge fund, and had served as the chair of the math department at Stony Brook University from 1968 to 1978. Later, in 2006, he and his wife Marilyn notably donated $25 million to the school, the largest donation ever to a SUNY institution at the time.
"It is with profound sorrow that I share that our dear friend and cherished member of the Stony Brook community Jim Simons passed away this morning," a statement released by McInnis read. "From his role as chairman of the math department, to his years of leadership on the Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees, to his transformational generosity, Jim forever impacted Stony Brook. Our university is infinitely better because of Jim, and his passing leaves an enormous hole in the hearts of all who were fortunate to know him."
"Please join me in keeping his wife Marilyn and family in your thoughts," he continued. "We will be celebrating Jim’s remarkable and lasting impact in the coming months and will share information as it becomes available."
Simons has been described as the "greatest investor on Wall Street" and "the most successful hedge fund manager of all time," and Bloomberg put his net worth at $29.4 billion as of 2023, making him number 52 at the time among the world's richest individuals. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley.
Simons was known for his studies on pattern recognition and as the founder of the Simons Foundation - which supported math and science research, with the top benefactor being Stony Brook University, his wife's alma mater - and was on the boards of the Stony Brook Foundation, the MIT Corporation, and the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute in Berkeley. He was also chaired the boards of Math for America, the Simons Foundation, and Renaissance Technologies.
In recognition for his contributions to mathematics and philanthropy, asteroid 6618 Jimsimons was named in his honor in 2016.
He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, as well as his son, Nat Simons, and daughter, Liz Simons. Sadly, he lost his two other sons earlier in life; in 1996, his son Paul died at the age of 34 when struck by a car on Long Island while riding a bicycle, and in 2003 he lost his son Nicolas, 24, when he drowned in Bali, Indonesia.