< 25 Top Pension Power Players
4. Laura & John Arnold
Founders,
Laura and John Arnold Foundation
Since 2011 the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) has established itself as the most powerful voice among not-for-profits fighting to reform public defined benefit pensions in the U.S. The Arnolds’ considerable wealth aids in these efforts. John Arnold, 42, made his multibillion-dollar fortune as a natural-gas trader, first at Enron Corp. and then running his own hedge fund. The couple is willing to give big bucks to candidates and campaigns that support the type of pension reform they endorse: a reduction of the burden on state and municipal coffers. The Texas-based LJAF has worked with state lawmakers to help shape pension policy, most recently in Arizona. The foundation’s top pension executive, Josh McGee, is emerging as a pension power player in his own right: In addition to his day job, he’s a senior fellow with conservative think tank the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (see Paul Singer, No. 15) and chairman of the Texas Pension Review Board. — Imogen Rose-Smith
The 2017 Pension Political Power 25
1. Andy Puzder 2. Bruce Rauner 3. Betsy DeVos 4. Laura & John Arnold 5. Steven Mnuchin |
6. Wilbur Ross 7. Tani Cantil-Sakauye 8. Paul Ryan 9. Anthony Scaramucci 10. Kevin de León |
11. Mike Enzi 12. Steve Sweeney 13. Jerry Brown 14. Corey Lewandowski 15. Paul Singer |
16. Randel Johnson 17. Joe Manchin 18. Kenneth Feinberg 19. Scott Walker 20. Richard Trumka |
21. Mike Rawlings 22. Elizabeth Warren 23. Kent Mason 24. Bernie Sanders 25. Randi Weingarten |
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