In 2006, Centaurus reportedly generated a 317 percent return overall, after taking the opposite side of a risky bet that another hedge fund, Amaranth, had made on fluctuations in natural gas prices. The tech giant is helping researchers and clinicians decipher vast amounts of data generated by people with persistent symptoms. Musicians from the New York Philharmonic geek out about their favorite John Williams scores. A guy such . By all accounts, Laura, who attended Harvard College and Yale Law School and worked as an oil executive, has been equally influential in setting the direction for the foundation. Houstonian John Arnold is the founder of Centaurus Capital LP, an energy-focused, family office investment fund. The Arnolds identify as Democrats and were major financial supporters of President Barack Obama. info@naturalgasintel.com Returning Unlike Tom Steyer, a billionaire who earned his wealth investing in oil and natural gas and now hypocritically blames those commodities for devastating the planet, John Arnold says little about climate change. Late on Saturday, September 16, Amaranth's senior energy trader Brian Hunter asked John Arnold, Centaurus CEO, whether the hedge fund would like to make a bid for some of Amaranth's positions. Aiming to defend the science behind the guidelines, McGovern suggested that the doubts that had been cast over Americas nutrition science were being driven by a former Enron executive. I dont know what Enron knows about dietary guidelines, McGovern said. More importantly, private corporations may spend unlimited sums influencing elections, legislation, and political issues under the Constitutions First Amendment right to free speech with none of the limitations on lobbying and election interference the IRS imposes upon nonprofits (in exchange for limited tax exemption). Get access to 100,000+ more news articles & industry data. A childhood math prodigy turned medical researcher, Ioannidis became a kind of godfather to the science reform crowd in 2005, when he published two devastating papersone of them titled simply Why Most Published Research Findings Are False. Now, with a $6 million initial grant from the Arnold Foundation, Ioannidis and his colleague Steven Goodman are setting out to turn the study of scientific practiceknown as meta-researchinto a full-fledged field in its own right, with a new research center at Stanford. [47], John Arnold and his brother Matthew[48] tore down historical homes in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston which led to criticism by architectural conservationists. No. And for two years they had been rejected again and againwhich was, by 2011, discouraging but not all that surprising to the 38-year-old scientist. At age 38, Texas billionaire John Arnold decided to step away from high finance. The Arnolds had already decided that, with decades of life ahead of them and almost unlimited resources, they had the time and money to evaluate charitable programs properly, even when that meant paying for expensive randomized controlled trials that could take years to complete. CRC respects confidentiality and will not share your e-mail address. [39], Arnold Ventures LLC has invited criticism with its involvement in many controversial areas. Closing Is there something special about frauds in the securities biz that they should be penalized infinitely more harshly than other business frauds? he went on. The problem even had a name: the file drawer effect. Luce's career in natural-gas storage includes leading roles with energy and utility company Sempra Energy and with NGS Energy, a developer backed by billionaire energy trader John Arnold's Centaurus Advisors hedge fund. Copyright 2012Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Former Enron Corp. energy trader John Arnold is closing down his flagship Centaurus Energy Master Hedge Fund. As a general rule, the incentives related to quantitative research are very different in the social sciences and in financial practice, says James Owen Weatherall, author of The Physics of Wall Street. Those who support ICERs formula believe it could lower prices while critics argue that the formula is discriminator toward the elderly and those with disabilities or rare diseases. Amaranth, which was gambling with money from large pension funds, suffered a $6 billion loss and collapsed. Foundations and 501(c)(3) public charities are barred from electioneering. In recent decades, math and science whizzes like Arnold have invaded Wall Street, bringing a level of scientific precision to trading and often making fortunes in the process. Republished It wasnt long before Arnold had the answer to his doubts. [17] August 2008, Centaurus acquired around 10% of the shares of National Coal Corporation (NCOC). Updated: 12/31/2014 01:43 PM EST. Arnold and his wife, Laura Munoz, together run the John and Laura Arnold Foundation, a major private grantmaking foundation.In early 2019 he and his wife Laura started Arnold Ventures, a for-profit limited liability company (LLC) and grantmaking organization. (The foundations funding of the Nutrition Science Initiative is now scheduled to end in November.) Let us know if we're missing any workplace or industry recognition - Add Awards. What do we actually know?. Six months later the Arnold Foundation made a $4.7 million seed grant to the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI), the nonprofit Taubes cofounded to support fundamental research on diet and health. Science is built like a building, Arnold says. McGoverns quip about Enron, a company that hasnt existed in 15 years, was a bit of a potshot. By the following year, Nosek was cofounding an institution called the Center for Open Science with an initial $5.25 million grant from the Arnold Foundation. By kindergarten, Arnolds talent for math was apparent. Reflects change since 5 pm ET of prior trading day. Updated March 10, 2017 5:18 pm ET. 12 -- John Arnold, Centaurus Advisors. But compared with the benefit of near-total anonymity, wealthy elites like the Arnolds are forgoing the tax advantages of a foundation or traditional nonprofit to further withdraw from public scrutiny. En 2002, us su bonificacin para financiar Centaurus . The Center for Open Sciences next big undertaking is another reproducibility projectthis one for cancer studieswhich recently revealed its initial findings (two of five studies yielded the same results the second time around). As far as big dollar donors go, John Arnold and his wife, Laura, are not well known to conservatives. Sign In, Listen to the latest episode of our newest podcast, 2023 North American Pipeline, LNG & Market Hubs Map, 1Q23 N.A. A new study shows . 4. Arnold's summary of his big-hearted plans reads as could only be written by a trader, particularly points 2 and 3: . Thirty-seven year old John Arnold, one of the world's youngest billionaires, had the worst year of his hedge fund career. [38], In 2020, Arnold was one of ten billionaires who had given away at least 20% of their wealth. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert referred to researchers who had tried and failed to replicate the findings of one senior lecturer as shameless little bullies.. It Depends On Who You Talk To", "How we Ranked Forbes 400 based on their giving", "Dog The Bounty Hunter Joins Lawsuit Against Chris Christie Over Bail Reform", "June Rodgers v. Christopher Christie, No. [25][1] The organization was founded in 2010. A 2016 study to determine the effectiveness of the badges showed that the number of articles that reported publicly available data had increased tenfold. He's decided to shut down his firm Centaurus Advisors and return investor money, retiring at the ripe old age of 38, according to The New York Times.Arnold rose to prominence at now disgraced Enron for his natural gas trading prowess. Consent By the time he was 14, Arnold was running his first company, selling collectible sports cards across state lines. The IRS strictly regulates foundations and nonprofits engaged in political work, such as lobbying and voter registration. The NAACP and ACLU have criticized the Arnold PSA because they believe risk assessment tools actually increased the number of prisoners under the guise of criminal justice reform. Laura and John Arnold, co-founders and co-chairs of Arnold Ventures. John, Nosek learned, had made his first millions as a wunderkind natural gas trader at Enron, the infamous energy company, and hed managed to walk away from Enrons 2001 collapse with a seven-figure bonus and no accusations of wrongdoing attached to his name. After that Arnold started his own hedge fund, Centaurus Energy, where he became, in the words of one hedge fund competitor, "the best trader that ever lived, full stop." . NGI Archives Several other Houston area billionaires made their money during a record year for oil and gas, such as George Bishop, who. A year ago, talk in the Texas energy hub was mostly about defending oil and gas and denouncing renewables, Arnold, 47, said Monday on his Twitter account. It was little wonder, then, that funders didnt come running to support Nosek: He wasnt promising novel findings, he was promising to question them. Billionaire philanthropists John and Laura Arnold committed Monday, April 5, 2021, to donate 5% of their wealth annually as part of an effort to . [52], , "Centaurus scoops up National Coal shares", Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, "The Young Billionaire Behind the War on Bad Science", "John Arnold Is Said to Close Hedge Fund and Return Investor Money", "When a billionaire trader loses his edge - The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals blogTerm Sheet", "Houston billionaire trader John Arnold retiring at 38 - Houston Chronicle", "Legendary Energy Trader John Arnold to Retire", "Hedge Fund Billionaire John Arnold's Fund Was Up When He Announced He Was Getting Out", "Ex-Trader at Enron to Retire From Hedge Fund", New York Times: "CORPORATE CONDUCT: THE TRADER; Enron Trader Had a Year To Boast of, Even If" By DAVID BARBOZA, "A speculator who is in for the long haul", "Centaurus's John Arnold: The king of natural gas - Nov. 24, 2009", "Meet the Texas billionaire who backed Philly soda tax and now is funding attack ads in N.J. Senate race", "Smart trades that made this a good year for some", "Centaurus scoops up National Coal shares", "John D. Arnold's CFTC (U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission) speech", "Houston's World Cup bid adds a power player in John Arnold", "A Thirtysomething Billionaire Couple Take on Tough Issues Via Giving", "The City Fund has given out over $100 million to support charter and charter-like schools", How a billionaire couple greased the skids for Nancy Pelosis drug pricing bill, "Why this billion-dollar foundation is becoming a corporation", "Changemakers: The Leaders Reshaping Communities Around the World", "Two Texas Billionaires Think They Can Fix Philanthropy", "A Billionaire Pledges to Fight High Drug Prices, and the Industry Is Rattled", "Obscure Model Puts a Price on Good Healthand Drives Down Drug Costs", "How a Billionaire Couple Greased The Skids For Nancy Pelosi's Drug Pricing Bill", "Laura and John Arnold Foundation to Restructure as LLC", "Why one billionaire is calling out Silicon Valley's favorite philanthropic loophole", "Are Donor Advised Funds Good for Philanthropy? Arnold says he wasnt sure if he could match the success hed enjoyed as a futures trader at Enron. From its ashes, Arnold built his own hedge fund, Centaurus Advisors. In some cases, they may even have more favorable tax deductions when donating appreciable securities to a 501(c)(3) public charity. On Fishbowl, you can share insights and advice anonymously with Centaurus Advisors employees and get real answers from people on the inside. [26] In 2008, the Arnolds were original signatories of the Giving Pledge,[27] a pledge by some high-net-worth individuals to donate the majority of their income to philanthropic causes during their lifetimes. In 2015, after a cancer researcher was found to have falsified research data and defrauded the government out of millions of dollars, Arnold complained on Twitter that the penalty, a five-year funding restriction, was too light. [3] [8] At 14, he started his first company selling collectible sports cards called Blue Chip Cards. NatGas Conference Call Schedule, This article is part of NGI's Daily Gas Price Index. Brian Nosek had pretty much given up on finding a funder. Then, one day in November 2011, he was listening to the podcast EconTalk, hosted by libertarian economist Russ Roberts. The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our livesfrom culture to business, science to design. I think I was just born with a natural gift for seeing numbers in a special way, he says. She and her husband John,. But Shankman recognized that he and Arnold were different in one key respect: Arnold had a greater appetite for risk, a quality that seemed at odds with his quiet demeanor. It completely transformed what we could imagine doing, Nosek says. He and a graduate student were developing an online system that would allow researchers to keep a public log of the experiments they were running, where they could register their hypotheses, methods, workflows, and data as they worked. Projects that Nosek had once envisioned as modest efforts carried out in his lab were now being conducted on an entirely different scale at the centers startup-like offices in downtown Charlottesville, with some 70 employees and interns churning out code and poring over research. Form Nonprofits must file annual Form 990 financial reports with the IRS, disclosing their revenues, employee compensation, grant recipients, and (in the case of foundations) their donors. A former executive at Salomon Brothers later told The New York Times that there were very few incidents in the history of Wall Street comparable to Arnolds success that year. Like Nosek, Taubes had to Google Arnold to learn who he was. Were looking to create an organization of thoughtful failure and fantastic success., If John Arnold does have an identifiable ideology, it is that of a lifelong trader and quant: unsentimental, metrics-focused, interventionist. . On some days at Enron, Arnold would trade more than a billion dollars worth of gas contracts. Arnold graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1995, taking only three years to finish his degree. That way, it would be harder for them to go back and cherry-pick their sexiest data after the factand easier for other researchers to come in and replicate the experiment later. Now, with multiple grants from the Arnolds, he is leading an effort to build an open, searchable database that will link all publicly available information on every clinical trial in the world. Much of the Arnolds philanthropy has funded causes favored by the Left, such as ranked-choice voting, litigation against supposed Republican gerrymandering in congressional maps, and the eco-Right, groups infiltrating the conservative movement with a left-wing global-warming agenda. John Arnold, a highly successful energy trader at 38 years old, earned $750 million after Enron, the company he worked for had . Centaurus Advisors - John Arnold assets under management (13F Holdings), latest news, 13D/G filings, and investor letters provided by Insider Monkey He is universally described as quiet and introspective. Longevity evangelists are injecting people with experimental gene therapies. Arnold has said that the first phase of his life was 100 percent trying to make money and that its now 100 percent trying to do good. As The Wall Street Journal noted, in US history, there may have never been a self-made individual with so much money who devoted himself to philanthropy at such a young age.. After making millions for Enron, launching his own hedge fund, and becoming a billionaire, John Arnold retired at 38. Nosek was so taken with the importance of redoing old experiments that he had also rallied more than 50 like-minded researchers across the country to participate in something he called the Reproducibility Project. The Arnolds are candid about this, telling the Chronicle of Philanthropy in a January 2020 interview that the goal is to change policies: We have never viewed our work and our philanthropy in terms of C3 versus C4. John Arnold, one of the most profitable traders in the hedge fund industry, has decided to shut down his Centaurus Advisors and return money to investors, according to people familiar with. View Subscription Options Legendary natural gas trader John Arnold is closing down his flagship Centaurus fund, sources said o n Wednesday, ending an era in which the former Enron wunderkind defined the high-risk, big . 2020)", "A divided federal appeals court rules Baltimore's surveillance plane is constitutional, cites city's struggles", "Billionaire-Funded Criminal Justice Reform Actually Expands Carceral System", "Officials Got a Windfall Before Enron's Collapse", "How a billionaire couple greased the skids for Nancy Pelosi's drug pricing bill", "Storied Texas Mansion Completely Demolished: The Bulldozer Brings Down Houston's Greatest Architect", "Big and Modern on Lazy Lane: John Arnold Tries House Trading | Swamplot", Baylor College of Medicine: "Laura Arnold named to BCM Board of Trustees" by Lori Williams, "Meet Laura Arnold, the billionaire philanthropist taking on the parole system with Jay-Z and Meek Mill", "Our Team | Laura and John Arnold Foundation", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_D._Arnold&oldid=1150152010, This page was last edited on 16 April 2023, at 16:09. Science Has Its Problems, But the Web Could Be the Fix, Psychology Is in Crisis Over Whether Its in Crisis, Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.. When we started as solely a foundation and we had a C4 that was kind of ancillary to it, we respected the distinction and division the law requires. Does anyone really believe that charity is better off when only experts can distinguish between the two? Prior He has also served as the Investment Manager for the Laura and John Arnold Foundation since 2011. Houston-based Centaurus has been one of the most successful hedge funds in the industry, delivering a compound annual return of about 130% since it was founded by Arnold in 2002 after the collapse of Enron. The articles have to appear methodologically sound, but this is generally a lower standard than being completely convincing. A new study shows are the four most dangerous words, Arnold wrote on Twitter. Follow the topics you want and receive the daily emails. [10] Using their new Internet-based trading network, EnronOnline,[citation needed] [11] he is credited with making three quarters of a billion dollars for Enron in 2001 and was rewarded with the largest bonus in Enron history, some $8 million. A new edition of the record evokes the feeling of the remarkable 18th-century studio in which it was recorded. Researchers say viruses can kill antibiotic-resistant microbes and help treat infections. Arnold, 46, was raised in a middle-class family and worked her way through Harvard, she wrote in a July 2010 letter announcing her decision to sign The Giving Pledge. Those were the early days of the internet, and he managed to gain access to an online bulletin board intended only for card dealers. [43], John received an $8 million dollar bonus from Enron just before the company filed for bankruptcy. Hard-working business innovator Daymond John has been known to say that he is "retired" because hes doing what he loves - helping other people succeed. [3] [8] His father was a lawyer and died when Arnold was 18. May 17 (Reuters) - John Arnold, a former Enron trader and hedge fund honcho known as the "king of natural gas", is backing an energy-focused credit fund that will aim to take advantage of. To which the answer is clearly no, but theres a lot of bullshit masquerading as science. (Some of the background footage in the segment came from the Arnold Foundation.). In my conversations with Arnold and his grantees, the word incentives seems to come up more than any other. But now they were widening their scope. In its first seven years, according to Fortune, the fund never returned less than 50 percent. Arnold figures that some of his specific grants might not work out as planned. The journals Science and Nature have started bringing in statisticians to review their papers. At the time, his net worth was estimated to be around $3 billion. George Soros, Soros Fund Management - $1.1 billion. [42], Arnolds foundation, Arnold Ventures, created a Public Safety Assessment which gave recently arrested individuals a score to determine their flight risk and potential bail. If John Arnold . Centaurus will be returning capital to investors, according to a Reuters report. In Wall Street circles Arnold, who is in his late 30s, has been known to some as the king of natural gas.. But he tells me that listening to Taubes and reading his book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, had been an aha moment for him. [30][31], In 2013, the Arnolds donated $10 million as a private donation to the National Head Start Association after the United States federal government shutdown of 2013 had closed the pre-K Head Start programs. John Hayek, Deirdre McCloskey, Elinor Ostrom, Walter Williams, or some of the other economists Ive profiled. At least, not exactly. Capital Research Center (CRC) was established in 1984 to promote a better understanding of charity and philanthropy. During the podcast, he mentioned that he was raising money in the hope of funding experiments that might deepen our understanding of the root causes of obesity. The National Institutes of Health is moving forward with new requirements for data sharing; starting as early as this year, all NIH-funded training programs must include plans for teaching researchers the principles of reproducibility. John Douglas Arnold (born 1974) is an American philanthropist, former Enron executive, and founder of Arnold Ventures LLC, formerly the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. And in 2015 the Arnold Foundation paid journalist Nina Teicholz to investigate the scientific review process that informs the US Dietary Guidelines. John Arnold managed to walk away from Enrons 2001 collapse with a seven-figure bonus and no accusations of wrongdoing attached to his name. Arnold funds Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), a nonprofit that created a formula to price drugs. Arnold Ventures will likely fund the same formula of political and charitable causes that the Arnold Foundation supported. The Arnold Foundation has been the Medici of meta-research, Ioannidis says. Previously, Mr. Arnold founded and was CEO of Centaurus Energy, a multi-billion dollar energy commodity hedge fund. Centaurus employees have included several big name energy traders such as ex-Enron executive Greg Whalley, as well as Bill Perkins, Mike Magg and Conrad Goerl, previously of MotherRock. John Arnold. 2023 Cond Nast. They have personally donated to numerous Democratic campaigns, the Democratic Partys leading congressional political action committee (House Majority PAC), and both of Barack Obamas presidential campaigns. FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2009, file photo, John Arnold, then head of the hedge fund Centaurus Advisors of Houston, testifies before the The Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington,. Guest: John Arnold is an American philanthropist and founder of Arnold Ventures. But about an hour in, Massachusetts representative Jim McGovern leaned into his microphone. But he also stood out for his skepticism. As co-founders, Laura and John actively engage in the organization's overall direction and daily execution. Media reports have declared the field of psychology, if not all of science, to be in a state of crisis. Subscribe now. [3][8] At 14, he started his first company selling collectible sports cards called Blue Chip Cards. Date Recorded: 1/12/2022 | Run-Time: 1:12:33 What does that say about American philanthropy? A person who answered NGIs call at Centaurus said the firm was not making any comments or talking to reporters. He reportedly earned the company $750 million the year Enron collapsed. In a glass conference room at the Arnold Foundations officeswhich occupy the same space as the old Centaurus trading floor, a 15-minute drive from the glass tower whose entrance was once adorned with Enrons famous EArnold explains that his and Lauras initial plan had been to simply locate the most effective organizations and write them checks. If Arnold decided he wanted to beat hunger, DAgostino says, I wouldnt want to bet on hunger., For all the swagger of that description, Arnold himself has virtually none. [15], He then founded Centaurus, a hedge fund, with his previous year's bonus in 2002. [51] They have three children. Written. [9], After college, he began his career at Enron as an oil analyst, but soon was promoted to assistant trader. In 2012, after growing his firm, Centaurus Advisors, from an initial $8 million to $5 billion in less than a decade, he announced that he was walking away to pursue other interests. Mr. Arnold is also Founder of Centaurus Capital LP, a family office investment fund with a specific focus on the energy industry. Fight back. Weve always defined success as sustainable change through policy. But powerful special interests are trying to question science., If John Arnold decided he wanted to beat hunger, I wouldnt want to bet on hunger.. For the rest of us, we can only hope that he continues to inspire us with his unique blend of starry-eyed optimism and rocket expertise. [8][12] His former colleagues dubbed him "king of natural gas. A hugely successful energy trader, Arnold once worked. Like a number of up-and-coming researchers in his generation, Nosek was troubled by mounting evidence that science itselfthrough its systems of publication, funding, and advancementhad become biased toward generating a certain kind of finding: novel, attention grabbing, but ultimately unreliable. They internalize the risk of mistaking correlation for causationnot because theyre smarter than scientists but because they have money riding on the outcome. In Charlottes Biggest Labor Protest In Two Decades, 450 American Pilots Decry Slow Pace Of Contract Talks, Yellen Urges Congress To Raise Debt Limit Immediately, Warning U.S. Could Run Out Of Money By June, Singer Kelly Lang Reflects On Music, Battling Cancer & Her Friendship With Olivia Newton-John, E.J. That same hunger would make large-scale philanthropy far more challenging than he had anticipated. Usually the division of labor in most of our work is that I talk, Laura Arnold says in a phone interview.
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