The legend of James Simons grows. In 2007 his flagship Medallion hedge fund returned an almost unheard-of 73 percent, according to sources. And that’s after a fat 5 percent management fee and 44 percent performance fee. The return was more than double the fund’s annualized return of about 36 percent since Simons launched it in 1988 and the second-best year ever, after 2000, when it returned 98 percent.
