David Shaw

A former computer science professor at Columbia University, David Shaw is the founder of D.E. Shaw, which manages over $55 billion in assets.

Known for its use of sophisticated mathematical modeling and algorithms, the quantitative hedge fund firm was founded in 1988.

In 2002, Shaw created an executive committee to oversee the company, and has since stepped away from its day-to-day operations.

Several former execs have started their own successful businesses, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Two Sigma hedge fund's John Overdeck.

Shaw is now chief scientist at D.E. Shaw Research, a computational biochemistry research firm.