June 15, 2007. Jim Simons is investing in a leveraged buyout fund from private equity firm Topspin Partners, according to a report.
The report did not reveal how much capital the scientist-turned-hedge fund-billionaire would invest in the LBO fund. The report did note that Simons, who has a net worth of $4 billion, will be the biggest investor in the fund.
Simons, head of $12 billion quantitative specialist Renaissance Technologies, co-founded Topspin in 2000, according to the Topspin Web site.
The fund, named Topspin LBO, is the second offering from Topspin Partners, and will focus on businesses in its local Long Island, N.Y. The private equity firm has so far raised $115 million for the Topspin LBO.
Simons, who earned an estimated $1.7 billion last year, started Renaissance in 1982. Prior to founding Renaissance, he worked as a mathematical physicist and professor.