>Possible explanation: there aren't any other firms founded by as great mathematicians as the founders of the Renaissance. I'm skeptical. There are a lot of sm

>Possible explanation: there aren't any other firms founded by as great mathematicians as the founders of the Renaissance. I'm skeptical. There are a lot of smart mathematicians, and given that the incentive is billions in profit, there is no way you can maintain that kind of competitive advantage over decades. Again, we're not talking about a company stumbling on a massively profitable, but undiscovered space. In that case, yes, as a first-mover you'll make billions. But you can't maintain that for decades as others will move in. The other item that makes it kind of crazy is that nobody actually knows how they are doing it in, even in theory. Take the example of Google's search monopoly. They were one of the first to create a specific kind of search product that led them to billions in profit. Two decades later, they still maintain that competitive lead and the product is still highly profitable, but nobody is confused as to how they actually do it even if only Google knows the nitty-gritty details of the infrastructure or algorithms that back this product up. The Medallion Fund might as well be magic since nobody can explain the mechanism by which they maintain their outlier status.