Arnold Ventures was founded and co-chaired by John Arnold. The foundation’s primary aim is to invest in evidence-based solutions that increase opportunity while minimizing injustice. Mr. Arnold is also the creator of Centaurus Capital LP, a family office investment vehicle focused on the energy sector. Mr. Arnold previously developed and led Centaurus Energy, a multibillion-dollar energy commodity hedge firm.
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Prior to launching Centaurus Energy, he worked in Enron’s wholesale division, where he was the head of natural gas derivatives. Mr. Arnold announced his retirement from Centaurus Energy in May 2012 to focus on humanitarian endeavors.
He is a board member of Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an investor-led venture capital firm dedicated to financing transformative technologies that will reduce global greenhouse gas emissions; Civica, Inc.., a nonprofit generic pharmaceutical company; and the City Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting new governance models in K-12 education. Mr. Arnold is a Vanderbilt University graduate who resides in Houston, Texas, with his wife and three children.
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Inspiring Talks by John Arnold
Interview
Notable quotes
- “Few ideas are in themselves practical. It is for want of imagination in applying them that they fail. The creative process does not end with an idea-it only starts with an idea.”
- “I’ve now been called the next Koch brother by the far-left press and the next George Soros by the far right. I’m an equal opportunity special interest pot-stirrer.”
- “It’s telling that the most effective argument for both political parties is “maybe, but the other side is worse.”
- “Remember in 2019 when the Supreme Court ruled that state legislatures and state courts were better equipped to handle questions of gerrymandering than federal courts? That’s been quickly disproven.”
- “Good that Biden recognizes the importance of strategic metals. But it’s regulations, not money, that is the real hurdle. If we truly believe climate change to be an existential risk, addressing it must take priority over other environmental interests.”
- “Ughh: “Administration officials are working to ensure production will occur under strong environmental standards. Amid concerns from critics … aides are taking steps to make sure the presidential actions won’t skirt environmental reviews or permit regulations.”
- “Surely the health editors of periodicals know all the observational studies they cover (i.e. wine -> heart disease, coffee -> cancer) are garbage, but just can’t resist the clicks they generate. And that starts a vicious cycle where that demand creates more supply of junk science.”
- “The cost declines of clean energy have been so consistent for so many years that it seemed inevitable. But, in the past year, wind/solar/batteries have faced the largest cost increase ever. To continue to scale, the US must make cost reduction of materials the national priority.”
- “I just wish policymakers and the press spent as much energy on comprehensive immigration reform as they do on transgender athletics.”
- “Each Western country is announcing plans to pare back Russian oil imports to claim moral high ground while secretly hoping someone else picks up the volumes so oil prices don’t double.”
- “Americans have purchased 15 million more guns than normal since 2020. Relatedly, gun-related homicides & assaults have spiked during this time while non-gun-related felonies have fallen. Causation hard but some of the crime escalations is likely linked to just having more guns around.”
- “Everything politicians propose to address inflation is inflationary.”