After Enron collapsed, Ken Griffin went hunting for its best energy traders. One of Citadel’s biggest targets was @​JohnArnold, who had reportedly made Enron $750 million trading natural gas the year before. “They sent a whole team down to Houston, set up offices in the hotel across the street from the Enron building and just started interviewing almost everybody on the floor.” Arnold kept saying no. Then Griffin called Arnold at the airport and asked if he could talk. Arnold told him he was headed to Colorado. “[Griffin] calls back a few minutes later and says, ‘If I come to Colorado tomorrow, will you meet with me?’” Arnold took the meeting, but ultimately decided the economics were better if he went out on his own. The rest is history: Arnold founded Centaurus Energy in 2002. Five years later, at 33 he became the youngest billionaire in America. ▻