Billionaire James Simons, the founder of hedge fund firm Renaissance Technologies Corp., will retire from his post as chief executive officer, a person familiar with the matter said.
Simons, 71, will stay on as non-executive chairman, according to the person, who asked not to be named because the information is private.
Bob Mercer and Peter Brown, the current co-presidents of the East Setauket, NY-based firm, will become co-CEOs of Renaissance as of Jan 2010, the person said.
“I have led the organization and its predecessor for 31 years, and it is definitely time to pass the torch,” Simons said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News. A spokesman for Renaissance confirmed details of the letter and declined to comment further.
Simons earned $2.5 billion last year, according to a survey published in Alpha magazine. He was chairman of Stony Brook University’s mathematics department before starting Renaissance in 1982.
Simons will remain the firm’s main shareholder and has no plans to reduce his investment in the firm, the person said.