James Simons is the richest math teacher you've never heard of. Last year he earned $1.7 billion (a fact that was reported in the media in 2007) as head of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund compound from which he takes enormous fees.

How enormous? Simons earns 5% of assets under management and 44% of profits. Typical hedge funds managers earn 2% management fees and 20% of the profits. How does Simons justify the fees? He beats the competition regularly. In 2006, his $6 billion Medallion fund posted gross returns of 84%; 44% after fees.

Simons's annual pay checks have been adding up nicely for him. His net worth was recently estimated at $5.5 billion. Not bad for a math teacher.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

Be sure to check out more Money Winners of 2007.

Money Winners of 2007: Renaissance Technology's James Simons originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 16 Dec 2007 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.