Edward O Thorp

Math professor and frustrated gambler Edward Thorp developed one of the first systems for counting cards at blackjack. After getting kicked out of a few Nevada casinos, Thorp started the world’s first quantitative hedge fund, Princeton-Newport Partners, in 1969, using computers to identify mispriced securities and profit from them. Princeton-Newport made money every year, attracting prominent investors such as Harvard University. Now 81 and still playing the markets in Newport Beach.