The Man Who Solved the Market

Introduction

You do know no one will speak with you, right?
I was picking at a salad at a fish restaurant in Cambridge, Massa­chusetts, in early September 2017, trying my best to get a British mathematician named Nick Patterson to open up about his former company, Renaissance Technologies. I wasn t having much luck.
I told Patterson that I wanted to write a book about how James Simons, Renaissance s founder, had created the greatest moneymaking machine in financial history. Renaissance generated so much wealth that Simons and his colleagues had begun to wield enormous influence in the worlds of politics, science, education, and philanthropy. Anticipating dramatic societal shifts, Simons harnessed algorithms, computer models, and big data before Mark Zuckerberg and his peers had a chance to finish nursery school.
Patterson wasn t very encouraging. By then, Simons and his representa­tives had told me they weren t going to provide much help, either. Renais­sance executives and others close to Simons even those I once considered friends wouldn t return my calls or emails. Even archrivals begged out of meetings at Simons s request, as if he was a Mafia boss they dared not offend.
Over and over, I was reminded of the iron-clad, thirty-page nondisclo­sure agreements the firm forced employees to sign, preventing even retirees from divulging much. I got it, guys. But come on. I d been at the Wall Street Journal for a couple of decades; I knew how the game was played. Subjects, even recalcitrant ones, usually come around. After all, who doesn t want a book written about them? Jim Simons and Renaissance Technologies, ap­parently.
I wasn t entirely shocked. Simons and his team are among the most se­cretive traders Wall Street has encountered, loath to drop even a hint of how they d conquered financial markets, lest a competitor seize on any clue. Em­ployees avoid media appearances and steer clear of industry conferences and most public gatherings. Simons once

Gregory Zuckerman is the author of The Greatest Trade Ever and The Frackers, and is a Special Writer at the Wall Street Journal. At the Journal, Zuckerman writes about financial firms, personalities and trades, as well as hedge funds and other investing and business topics. He's a three-time winner of the Gerald Loeb award, the highest honor in business journalism. Zuckerman also appears regularly on CNBC, Fox Business and other networks and radio stations around the globe.

Captivating. New York Times
 
A compelling read. The Economist
 
Reads like a delicious page-turning novel. Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg
 
One of the most important stories of our time. Financial Times
 
Zuckerman brings the reader so close to the firm s inner workings that you can almost catch a whiff of the billionaire s Merit cigarette.   Brandon Kochkodin, Bloomberg

A gripping biography of investment game changer Jim Simons readers looking to understand how the economy got where it is should eat this up.   Publishers Weekly

"Worthwhile reading for budding plutocrats and numerate investors alike."  Kirkus

Immensely enjoyable. Edward O. Thorp, author of A Man for All Markets
 
An extremely well-written and engaging book . . . a must read, and a fun one at that. Mohamed A. El-Erian, author of The Only Game in Town
 
Leave it to the Wall Street Journal s Greg Zuckerman to lay open the golden mysteries of quantitative investing. With this fine, humane, and eye-opening book, he s well and truly broken the code. James Grant, Grant s Interest Rate Observer

"Page-turning tale bravura storytelling."  Gary Shteyngart, author of Lake Success