Renaissance has a very effective legal dept. I'm sure their math stuff is also great, but I was struck a bit reading an old story about the other side of one of their lawsuits/investments regarding a small town. Part of the business is definitely squeezing out an extra 5-10% from distressed exotic assets bought at discounts.

The mythology focusing on math/quant I think is a feature, for them.

Apologies for not finding the original; my $SE appears to be dominated by a recent tax deal instead.