Billionaire quant investing pioneer and philanthropist James Simons, who founded systematic hedge fund investment firm Renaissance Technologies, has died at the age of 86, according to a report by Reuters.

Simons, a former mathematics teacher and military intelligence code-breaker, switched to investing sixty years ago and pioneered the use of computer signals for trading decisions.

Simmons founded Renaissance in 1978 in East Setauket, New York, where he established the foundations of quantitative trading which is now employed by dozens of investment firms around the world. Under his guidance, the firm's Medallion Fund delivered average annual returns of more than 60% over three decades.

He retired as CEO of Renaissance in 2010 and stepped down as Chairman in 2021.

With a net worth estimated at $31bn by Forbes, Simons was also a prominent philanthropist, giving away billions of dollars during his lifetime to support medical and science research, teaching and Democratic candidates.