El Podcast

E35: The Greatest Investor of All-Time (It's NOT Warren Buffett)

Episode Summary

Gregory Zuckerman, author of The Man Who Solved the Market, explains how Jim Simons built Renaissance Technologies into the most successful hedge fund in history by hiring elite scientists, using machine learning, and relying on data-driven systems—not intuition—to dominate markets with 66% annual returns.

Episode Notes

Wall Street Journal reporter Gregory Zuckerman joins to unpack the secretive world of Jim Simons and Renaissance Technologies, exploring how the most successful trading firm in history continues to beat the market.

Guest Bio: Gregory Zuckerman is a senior special writer at The Wall Street Journal, where he covers hedge funds, private equity, and financial markets. He is the bestselling author of The Man Who Solved the Market, which tells the story of Jim Simons and the rise of quantitative investing.

Discussed Topics:

• Who is Jim Simons, and how did he build Renaissance Technologies?
• The origin of AI-based trading and its limitations
• How Renaissance hires and operates in total secrecy
• Lessons from long-term capital management and financial blowups
• The future of trading, markets, and what investors can learn
• The human cost behind extreme success: family tragedy and personal limits
• What Renaissance contributes to society, if anything
• Differences between traditional investors like Warren Buffett and quants like Simons
• Why intelligence—not credentials—is the hiring metric at Renaissance

Top 3 Quotes:

• "They’re the greatest moneymakers in financial history—because they trusted the machine more than the story."
• "Simons made his billions by predicting markets, but couldn’t predict the tragedies in his personal life."
• "You don’t want to trade like Renaissance—you want to trade in places they’re not looking."

📺Watch the full podcast on YouTube➡️https://youtu.be/xBI4ETrO3ZU?si=lIUmDwLEvXY4KDdw