Acquired

Renaissance Technologies


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Renaissance Technologies is the best performing investment firm of all time. And yet no one at RenTec would consider themselves an “investor”, at least in any traditional sense of the word. It’d rather be more accurate to call them scientists — scientists who’ve discovered a system of math, computers and artificial intelligence that has evolved into the greatest money making machine the world has ever seen. And boy does it work: RenTec’s alchemic colossus has posted annual returns in the firm’s flagship Medallion Fund of 68% gross and 40% net over the past 34 years, while never once losing money. (For those keeping track at home, $1,000 invested in Medallion in 1988 would have compounded to $46.5B today… if you’d been allowed to keep it in.) Tune in for an incredible story of the small group of rebel mathematicians who didn’t just beat the market, but in the words of author Greg Zuckerman “solved it.”

Sponsors:

Rippling: https://bit.ly/acquiredrippling
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25
Odd Lots: https://bit.ly/acquiredoddlots
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn

Links:

  • The Man Who Solved the Market
  • The Quants
  • Bloomberg’s 2016 RenTec profile
  • Quartr's visualization of RenTec's returns
  • All episode sources

Carve Outs:

  • Modern Treasury’s Transfer Conference Registration
  • The New Look
  • Cole Haan x Acquired!
  • Class of Palm Beach (and the Mini Kelly inside the Birkin!!)


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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

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AcquiredBy Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

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