"Not a squeak?" Do a basic Google search. It was widely reported in the financial press at the time, especially by Bloomberg.

And as far as billionaires go, I don't even think Simons gets enough press to really make a distinction on whether or not it's overly positive. Someone else mentioned Gates, which is I think apt. He has cultivated a savior mythos in the press in which he eradicates diseases using his fortune.

Even if you include everything the Simons Foundation does for disease and health research, it's just a drop in the bucket compared to how much positive spin lots of other billionaires get. Off the top of my head, I think even David E. Shaw gets more spotlight than Simons through DESRES and his whole "spurned academic turned superstar" schtick.