Alex Gerko makes a generous gift of £1m to the new ‘Friends of IHES’ endowment

Press release – 21 March 2023

Alex Gerko, founder of the algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets, has just made a £1m gift to Friends of IHES that will contribute to its newly created endowment fund in the US.

This is the first donation that Alex Gerko has made to support IHES. This very generous gift honors the Institute and will importantly help drive its advancement.

The donation will contribute to the new, US-based endowment fund whose creation has been substantially promoted by Marilyn and Jim Simons, co-Chairs of Friends of IHES, who have committed to match the first $10m that will be given towards this project.

The couple’s matching gift through the Simons Foundation International will thus double the impact of the gift by Alex Gerko. This will contribute to supporting the Institute’s operational budget, where it is most needed.

Alex Gerko commented: “My success and that of XTX Markets has been built on mathematics. Supporting the new Friends of IHES endowment fund is a way for me to ensure that mathematical knowledge keeps on advancing.”

Marilyn and Jim Simons, co-Chairs of Friends of IHES, said: “We are very happy that Alex decided to participate to the Friends of IHES endowment fund in the US. His gift represents a major contribution to this new project and we are delighted to match it. We believe that the new endowment fund has the potential to be truly transformative for the future of IHES and we thank Alex for taking part in it.”

Emmanuel Ullmo, Director of IHES, added: “IHES is extremely grateful for Alex Gerko’s gift and for his choice to contribute to the Friends of IHES endowment fund. The donation will be an enormous boost to the Institute’s development. The fact that its proceeds remain unrestricted also means that IHES will be able to flexibly respond to different needs as they rise, which is an incredible asset for an institute as small as IHES.”