Renaissance Technologies and its enigmatic founder, James Simons, are studies in contrast from several perspectives. When the legendary systematic hedge fund’s name is uttered in political circles, thoughts immediately turn to Robert Mercer, a computational linguistics expert who joined the firm in 1993 and until recently was its co-CEO until he left the firm due largely to his political viewpoints. Known most prominently for his support of Donald Trump and the right wing Breitbart News website, Mercer cuts a sharp contrast with the acknowledged liberal Simons. In part, this dichotomy was seen early in Simons’ life, when he was forced out of his first job over his liberal politics.
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