Gideon O. Powell

Gideon O. Powell is the CEO of Cholla Inc. Under Gideon’s leadership, Cholla has continued a tradition of hydrocarbon exploration while expanding into other pioneering industries like Bitcoin mining, Data center development, and venture capital. From 2013-2017 Gideon was the Director of Acquisitions & New Ventures at Cholla, where he led the company's entrance into the Permian basin of West Texas, leading to a step change in growth for Cholla and later a substantial exit. After the divestiture, Gideon pivoted to study the global power markets for investable CO2 utilization projects. Through this work he and his team identified bitcoin mining and flexible loads as an opportunity to provide dispatchable electrical capacity to local grids, alleviating the intermittency problems caused by renewable energy.

He is passionate about exploration, global energy abundance, #openSource, bottom-up innovation, individual liberty, and building strong communities. He spends his spare time advocating for policies to accelerate energy abundance for all, supporting criminal justice reform, reading, and enjoying time with friends and family. He is actively involved as an adviser to Buried Alive, an initiative focused on ending mass incarceration in America, and is a member of Stand Together, a philanthropic organization that empowers people dedicated to helping others improve their lives. Gideon serves on the Advisory Board of the MIT Energy Club and resides in Dallas, Texas with his beautiful, smart, patient, liberty-minded wife and four amazing children.