At Enron, a company famous for its brash, testosterone-laced cowboy culture, the perennially boyish-looking trader was reportedly so soft-spoken that his colleagues had to gather in close to hear him at restaurants. The Arnolds have a multiple-decade timeline to work on problems. Yet the most remarkable thing about the Arnold Foundations research integrity projects is that they already appear to be paying off. Once the foundation has identified areas where they believe they can make the biggest difference, they go all in. Without Houston's Laura and John Arnold use philanthropy to help balance Sign in to get the best natural gas news and data. The comedian John Oliver spent 20 prime-time minutes on HBO last May mocking the reign of terrible science on TV news shows and in public debate: After a certain point, all that ridiculous information can make you wonder: Is science bullshit? As Nosek tells it, John Arnold had read about the Reproducibility Project in The Chronicle of Higher Education and wanted to talk. [9], After college, he began his career at Enron as an oil analyst, but soon was promoted to assistant trader. 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. [16], During the collapse of Amaranth Advisors, Centaurus is widely credited as being one of the major players on the other side of their position, returning as much as 150% in 2005. Just weeks before the federal guidelines were due for an update, Teicholzs blistering report appeared in the prominent medical journal The BMJ, charging that the governments panel of scientists had failed to consider evidence that would have done away with long-held worries about eating saturated fat. Arnold was raised in Dallas, Texas, and he was the younger of two sons. [28] From 2010-2013, the Arnolds were heavily involved in the Innocence Project which led to their interest in criminal reform. Centaurus will be returning capital to investors, according to a Reuters report. John Arnold, a highly successful energy trader at 38 years old, earned $750 million after Enron, the company he worked for had . His estimated net worth is $3.3 billion as of writing. Whole ), The backlash against Teicholz also furnished one of the few occasions when anyone has raised an eyebrow at the Arnolds funding of science critics. Centaurus Capital | Bernard Opetit | Hedge Fund Notes 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. [49], Arnold is married to Laura Elena (Muoz) Arnold. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Featured groups, golf odds, expert picks plus matchups and props with information you can bet on. On a warm October day in 2014, envoys from 15 of America's wealthiest families gathered at Circle T, Ross Perot Jr .'s 2,500-acre ranch outside . About - Centaurus Financial, Inc.. That same hunger would make large-scale philanthropy far more challenging than he had anticipated. In the past ten years, we have achieved more success than I could have hoped for or imagined. . 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. Qu u c Centaurus Energy ca Arnold, hin ang qun l hn 5 t USD gi tr ti sn, cha bao gi kim c li nhun t hn 50% . We talk about the . Does anyone really believe that charity is better off when only experts can distinguish between the two? She and her husband John,. 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. Capital Research Center (CRC) was established in 1984 to promote a better understanding of charity and philanthropy. The aim was to redo about 50 studies from three prominent psychology journals, to establish an estimate of how often modern psychology turns up false positive results. An associate professor at the University of Virginia, Nosek had made a name for himself in a hot subfield of social psychology, studying peoples unconscious biases. John Arnold got his start as a natural gas trader at Enron. Founded in 1992, Centaurus was formed with a singular focus - to provide unparalleled service, support, technology, and education to independent financial advisers in the securities industry. Centaurus Advisors Awards & Accolades. The articles have to appear methodologically sound, but this is generally a lower standard than being completely convincing. 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.). Republished The Search for Long Covid Treatments Takes a Promising Turn. Media reports have declared the field of psychology, if not all of science, to be in a state of crisis. He holds a B.A. John E. Murray (1959-2018) wasnt famous like Ludwig von Mises, F.A. At the Center for Open Science, Nosek has already begun to experiment with new incentives for scientists. John Arnold shocked the hedge fund world in 2012 when, at just 38 years old, he announced he would no longer manage other people's money. Scientists believe lasting symptoms following a coronavirus infection is not a single disorder. John It wasnt long before Arnold had the answer to his doubts. A Google search told him that the Arnolds were a young billionaire couple in Houston. "[13][14] When Enron collapsed, he was not accused of any wrongdoing. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. ISSN 2577-9877 Had something similar happened on Wall Street, he tweeted, the perpetrator would have been sentenced to 10 years in jail and the bank would have been fined a billion dollars. John D. Arnold is the founder and the only shareholder of Centaurus Energy Advisors, a hedge fund specializing in trading of energy. But consider the ramifications of a Soros Ventures, or Steyer Ventures, or Buffett Ventureslimited liability companies that could field virtually unlimited resources to lobby on foreign policy, abortion rights, illegal immigration, or health care, with almost no public transparency. The Meb Faber Show: #386 - John Arnold - Apple Podcasts | [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. The tech giant is helping researchers and clinicians decipher vast amounts of data generated by people with persistent symptoms. 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. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. A month after legendary natural gas trader Arnold abruptly announced that his Houston-based Centaurus would wind down its $2 billion master fund following a decade of unrivalled gains, Whalley. All told, the foundations Research Integrity initiative has given more than $80 million to science critics and reformers in the past five years alone. Arnold, who specializes in trading natural gas, is the former Enron trader who launched Centaurus in 2002 with the $8 million bonus he received from Enron after making the firm $750 million. At age 38, Texas billionaire John Arnold decided to step away from high finance. Early the next morning, Mr. Arnold offered a bid after making the following observations: "I . Ludwig is a native of Orange County, California,. 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. As co-founders, Laura and John actively engage in the organization's overall direction and daily execution. 377 on the magazines list of billionaires. The legal reporting required for these categories, as annoying as it is, is how our democracy ensures that giving and political activity remain visible and accountable to the public. Laura tells me she sees her husbands appetite for riskan appetite she says she sharesas the most obvious link between his approach to trading and philanthropy. One floor on top of the next. In nutrition, the whole foundation of the research had been flawed. Previously, Mr. Arnold founded and was CEO of Centaurus Energy, a multi-billion dollar energy commodity hedge fund. These wealthy Houstonians were named to Forbes' list of the - KPRC Says Goodman, Scientists really do want to discover things that make a difference in peoples lives. Hide Background LAURA AND JOHN ARNOLD FOUNDATION Family foundations What's Fishbowl. Centaurus entered the public eye in 2006 when Arnold bet against the enormous hedge fund Amaranth Advisors, which predicted that natural gas prices would rise and lost $5 billion when the market proved otherwise. Several other Houston area billionaires made their money during a record year for oil and gas, such as George Bishop, who. Natgas trading legend Arnold retires, ending era | Reuters [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? Energy Trading, Post-Enron - The New York Times 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. 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. Sign In, Listen to the latest episode of our newest podcast, 2023 North American Pipeline, LNG & Market Hubs Map, 1Q23 N.A. Nosek says that the cash offers were Arnolds idea. Laura and John established the Laura and John Arnold Foundation in 2010 with a straightforward mission: to improve lives through evidence-based solutions. 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.. More than $10 million more in Arnold Foundation grants have come since. Ultimately his army of volunteers could verify the findings of only about 40 percent of the studies. 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. New clinical trials could more effectively reach solutions. In 2011 Centaurus Energy Master Fund LP was fined $75,000 by the New York Mercantile Exchange for violating position limits in natural gas trading (see Daily GPI, Dec. 28, 2011). But some experts are critical of this shift away from traditional giving, seeing in it a worrying trend in modern philanthropy. Michael and Susan Dell, Austin $1 billion. A new study shows are the four most dangerous words, Arnold wrote on Twitter. 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. In episode 386, we welcome our guest, John Arnold, arguably the best natural gas trader of all-time and now one of the largest philanthropists in the US, giving away almost half a billion dollars a year. Centaurus Advisors - John Arnold assets under management (13F Holdings), latest news, 13D/G filings, and investor letters provided by Insider Monkey Now hed have to rely purely on his prowess with data. Former Enron Corp. energy trader John Arnold is closing down his flagship Centaurus Energy Master Hedge Fund. Arnold graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1995, taking only three years to finish his degree. In 2013 they donated $10 million to keep Head Start, the early-childhood education program for low-income kids, running through the federal government shutdown, and many of the issues theyve taken on, from criminal justice reform to making prescription drugs more affordable, are decidedly progressive. Hayek, Deirdre McCloskey, Elinor Ostrom, Walter Williams, or some of the other economists Ive profiled. Centaurus Advisors, which posted eye-popping returns and led him to become the youngest billionaire in the US in 2007. Centaurus Hedge Fund Fined $75,000 for Nymex Violations ISSN 1532-1231 Bachelor of Arts/Science, Vanderbilt University. Amaranth, which was gambling with money from large pension funds, suffered a $6 billion loss and collapsed. Billionaire philanthropists John and Laura Arnold committed Monday, April 5, 2021, to donate 5% of their wealth annually as part of an effort to . Hardly anyone in the world of nutrition science seemed willing to question the science behind the low-fat diet, even after Americans grew fat and diabetic in record numbers. But figuring out which organizations were most effective turned out to be vexing. Dr. Andrew Nerlinger is a physician, venture capital investor, and social impact innovator. Famous in England as a sharp-witted scourge of bad science, Goldacre spent years building up a case that pharmaceutical companies, by refusing to reveal all their data, have essentially deceived the public into paying for worthless therapies. The centers replication efforts, in turn, have inspired economists and even tropical ecologists to plan reproducibility projects of their own. 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. Closing One of the counterparties Amaranth approached was Centaurus. Of course, this new LLC model comes with the cost of losing the Arnold Foundations tax exemption. Houstonian John Arnold is the founder of Centaurus Capital LP, an energy-focused, family office investment fund. Because investigating and replicating research begins with having the data and materials necessary to do so, he is particularly focused on making science more transparent. In 2010, Centaurus experienced its first annual loss. All Rights Reserved. Laura Arnold has served on the boards of the Innocence Project[29] and the REFORM alliance. (Arnold was not involved in the fraud.) [3] [8] At 14, he started his first company selling collectible sports cards called Blue Chip Cards. 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). In 2016, John Arnold gave $250,000 to an unsuccessful effort to lift the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts, and they poured more than $500,000 into a PAC that helped bolster Governor Charlie . John Arnold managed to walk away from Enrons 2001 collapse with a seven-figure bonus and no accusations of wrongdoing attached to his name. W hen former Enron trader and billionaire hedge-fund manager John Arnold and his wife, Laura, announced plans to donate 5 percent of their net worth to charity every year, they may have. All these things that we thought we knewwhen we step back and look at the evidence baseits just not there., Rolling Stone called Arnold a young right-wing kingmaker with clear designs on becoming the next generations Koch brothers.. The problem, they claim, isnt that scientists dont want to do the right thing. Hes nowhere near as rich as he boasts, nor as poor as his critics claim. But as it happens, Nosek is just one of many researchers who have received unsolicited emails from the Arnold Foundation in the past few yearsresearchers involved in similar rounds of soul-searching and critique in their own fields, who have loosely amounted to a movement to fix science. I would buy up all the premium hockey cards and send them to Canada or upstate New York. He called the company Blue Chip Cards. The skeletal software behind the data-sharing project became a slick cloud-based platform, which has now been used by more than 30,000 researchers. Mr. Arnold is also Founder of Centaurus Capital LP, a family office investment fund with a specific focus on the energy industry. Billionaire John Arnold backing energy-focused credit fund - sources [2][3][4][5][6][7] He now focuses on philanthropy through Arnold Ventures LLC. One is literally betting on ones research.. John Arnold, Centaurus Energy . But in July 2012, Nosek received an email from an institution whose name he didnt recognize: the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. [30] The new entity is known as Arnold Ventures LLC with the charter "to remove barriers between data and decisive action, working swiftly across the policy-change spectrum. Andrew Nerlinger - Executive Director - Global Health Security Fund He . In 2012, the Arnolds joined the Giving Pledge, an oath made by billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to donate at least half of their wealth. Billionaire John Arnold backing energy-focused credit fund - sources In 2002, he founded Centaurus Advisors with $8 millionhis last Enron bonus, paid out just days before the company filed for bankruptcyin Houston, Texas, to invest in futures, options, and derivatives for coal, natural gas, and crude oil. His next act? Otherwise our field is built on thin air.. [30] The former foundation was sued over a pre-trial web tool by the family of a victim who was murdered, but the District Court and a U.S. Appellate Court dismissed the complaint. Our Team | Arnold Ventures John DAgostino, former head of strategy of the New York Mercantile Exchange, says that in Arnolds heyday, people in the industry would discuss him in hushed and reverent tones. In 2006, Centaurus reportedly saw returns of over 300 percent; the next year Arnold became the youngest billionaire in the country. The guest that day was science journalist Gary Taubes, and he was talking about how the prevailing dietary wisdom of the past 40 yearsthat eating too much fat leads to obesity and heart diseasearose from the flimsiest of scientific evidence. Weve always wanted to improve peoples lives. [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. Foerster and Marny Eng and musician John Oates on the way that music and imagery can combine to drive narrative, the dramatic heart at the core of the new independent comedy/drama 'Gringa' and the level of difficulty involved in post-pandemic independent film distribution. Arnold was raised in Dallas, Texas, and he was the younger of two sons. The problem even had a name: the file drawer effect. Philanthropy Is for the Living. [29] The Foundation is focused on evidence-backed giving for systematic change. Flagship Now she's turning her attention to storing green hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced using clean power. But as many Wall Street veterans can testify, betting against John Arnold is usually a bad idea. 1 Jon Rahm is a heavy favorite to win his fifth PGA Tour title in 2023 this week at the Mexico Open. According to Forbes, Arnold has a personal fortune of $3 billion as of March, putting him at No. Enron billionaire frets about public pensions' solvency