Jeff Arnold | |
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![]() Arnold presenting in 2015 | |
Born | 1969 or 1970 (age 54–55)[1] |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Georgia |
Employer | Sharecare |
Jeffrey Todd Arnold is an American Internet entrepreneur and executive. Currently, he is Chairman of Sharecare, a health and wellness engagement platform that provides users with personal health tools.[2]
Arnold is from the U.S. state of Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia,[3][4] where he studied communications before withdrawing in 1993.[5][6] He graduated from the university at a later date.[7][8]
Arnold worked in pharmaceutical sales early in his career. Described by Atlanta magazine as a "serial" entrepreneur,[9] he has founded multiple health care companies, including cardiac monitoring business Quality Diagnostic Services (QDS), medical website WebMD,[10] and Atlanta-based Sharecare,[3] for which he serves as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO).[11][12] Arnold was also the chairman and CEO of HowStuffWorks.[13][14]
Arnold and his wife founded QDS in 1994,[5] and later sold the company in 1998 for $25 million.[1][6][15] In October 1998,[5] he launched WebMD, a health care company that provides consumers, health institutions, and physicians with medical information through the Internet. Arnold continued to serve as CEO until he left WebMD in 2000.[5][16][17] In 2001, he formed The Convex Group,[18] a vulture fund, for which he also served as chairman and CEO.[19][20] He has been credited with the growth of HowStuffWorks, which Convex purchased in 2003 for $2 million and sold to Discovery Communications in 2007 for $250 million.[13][21] He has also been credited with helping Convex acquire Flexplay and LidRock.[22][23] In 2010, he co-founded Sharecare with Mehmet Oz.[24][25] Arnold has been credited with finding investors for both WebMD and Sharecare in Nashville.[26]
In 2003, Arnold started LidRock, which produced promotional miniature CDs attached to the lids of fountain drinks.[27] LidRock CDs were placed in between two lids, with the top one peeled away to obtain the disc.[28] Arnold purchased 19 patents from various companies in order to produce the LidRock concept.[18][29][30] The CDs were typically sold at fast-food restaurants and movie theaters,[31][30][27] and generally were used to promote new video games or music from singers such as Britney Spears.[30][32][33] More than 10 million LidRocks had been sold as of 2004,[28] and more than 30 million as of 2005.[34]