We prove that if G is a finite simple group which is the unit group of a ring, then G is isomorphic to either (a) a cyclic group of order 2; (b) a cyclic group of prime order 2^k −1 for some k; or (c) a projective special linear group PSLn(F2) for some n ≥ 3. Moreover, these groups do all occur as unit groups. We deduce this classification from a more general result, which holds for groups G with no non-trivial normal 2-subgroup.