And he's good at keeping secrets.
From the geeks at Numberphile:
Numberphile homepage (pick a pic and dive in)
HT on this one to Insider Monkey
The only other interview I'm aware of was at TED 2015 in Vancouver which wasn't as interesting but has the TED advantage of a transcript:
Finally, a few years ago Paul Kedrosky recommended this speech by Simons at MIT.
The old link, now deceased was http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2011/01/james_simons_sp.html. I didn't watch it at the time, planned to use it as a stand-alone weekend post but thinking about it, it's handy having all three together.
From MIT:
Mathematics, Common Sense, and Good Luck: My Life and Careers
12/09/2010 4:15 PM
James Harris Simons, Founder and CEO of Renaissance Technologies
James Harris Simons is an American hedge fund manager, mathematician, and philanthropist. In 1982, Simons founded Renaissance Technologies, a private investment firm based in New York with over $15 billion under management. Simons retired at the end of 2009, as CEO, of what is one of the world's most successful hedge funds. Simons' net worth is estimated to be $10.6 billion.
Don't expect to glean any market tips or trading secrets from James Simons, who steadfastly refuses to disclose the method behind his remarkable record in investing. Instead, listen to this mathematician, hedge fund manager and philanthropist sum up a remarkably varied and rich career, and offer some "guiding principles" distilled along the way.
The MIT site will also be dying soon:
The MIT Video website will be discontinued as of Feb. 28, 2017...
