Peter Fitzhugh Brown
Peter Fitzhugh Brown (born February 2, 1955) is the CEO of the American hedge fund Renaissance Technologies. Education and career. After graduating from Harvard University with a B.A. in mathematics, Peter F. Brown joined a team at Exxon Office Systems that was working on computer systems to transcribe spoken language into computer text. Later he earned a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University. In 1984 he joined the IBM speech group, working on computer software to transcribe spoken text. The group, led by Frederick Jelinek, included Robert Mercer and several other mathematicians, statisticians, and scientists . Brown (unsuccessfully) urged IBM management to use the speech group's research to develop and sell new products, such as an automated service for evaluation of financial credit. He successfully convinced Abe Peled, a high-level executive in IBM's Research Division, to hire the Carnegie Mellon research team that was programming a computer to play chess. The team, working for IBM, developed Deep Blue, which defeated Garry Kasparov in a 1997 chess match. Jim Simons offered to double Peter Brown's and Robert Mercer's IBM salaries, and they went to work for Renaissance Technologies in 1993. Brown and  Mercer were responsible for hiring David Magerman in 1995. In 1995 Brown and Mercer implemented a new, improved trading system that incorporated all of the trading signals and portfolio requirements of Renaissance Technologies into a monolithic, new, and improved trading system. Soon afterward, they were promoted to senior managers and partners with percentages of the profits of Renaissance Technologies. Magerman found and fixed two serious software bugs in Brown and Mercer's trading system. In 1997 Simons gave a 10% equity stake to Henry Laufer and, later, gave sizable equity stakes to Brown, Mercer, and others. Simons thus reduced his  equity stake to very slightly over 50%. As Jim Simons became more confident, he moved the firm into a new headquarters compound with a gym, lighted tennis courts, a library with a fireplace, and a large auditorium, where biweekly seminars were held. In 2003 Simons announced that Brown and Mercer would become executive vice-presidents of the entire firm, co-managing with Simons himself. In 2010 Simons made Brown and Mercer co-CEOS and retired. In November 2017, Mercer announced that he would resign from Renaissance Technologies. Since Mercer's resignation, Brown has been the sole CEO. Family. Peter F.  Brown, a son of Henry B. R. Brown, married Margaret Hamburg on May 23, 1992. They have two children.