John D. Arnold

John Douglas Arnold (born 1974) is an American billionaire, former energy trader, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He began his career at Enron in 1995, eventually becoming head of natural-gas derivatives trading. Arnold's trading operation was credited with generating approximately $750 million in profits for Enron in 2001, the year the company collapsed. As Enron approached bankruptcy in late 2001, Arnold received an $8 million retention bonus intended to keep him at the company during its proposed merger with Dynegy, one of the largest retention payments made during Enron's final weeks. Following Enron's bankruptcy, Arnold founded Centaurus Advisors in 2002, a Houston-based hedge fund specializing in energy trading. Contemporary and later accounts reported that Arnold used his $8 million Enron bonus as part of the capital with which he established Centaurus. The fund subsequently became one of the most successful energy-focused hedge funds of its era. In 2007, Arnold became the youngest billionaire in the United States. He closed Centaurus in 2012 and returned outside investors' capital. Arnold subsequently shifted his focus primarily to philanthropy through Arnold Ventures. He is also involved in energy investment and infrastructure and serves on the board of directors of Meta Platforms.