Monday, December 12, 2016

Houston Billionaire John Arnold Backs $1 Billion Cleantech Effort

John Arnold, the billionaire former hedge fund manager who was behind energy trading firm Centaurus Advisors, is backing an ambitious, $1 billion investment fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, being led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Arnold, who is now co-chair of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation in Houston, joined Bill Gates, John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures in announcing the new $1 billion clean technology investment fund on Monday. The venture capital firm will invest in technology that has a "significant impact" on greenhouse gas emissions. Arnold ran Centaurus up until 2012, and made his fortune in energy trading. Breakthrough Energy Ventures says it is making investments to move towards a carbonless world, and is seeking better, more efficient, and cheaper energy sources.