Early Life and Education
Jack Cogen was born in the United States and holds a B.A. from Rutgers University, as well as an M.S. in Mathematics and an M.B.A. from New York University.
Rise to Success
Cogen's career began with various roles in finance, including a position at Chase Manhattan Bank from 1981 to 1990. His entrepreneurial journey led him to create and manage the commodities group at Euro Brokers Capital Markets, Inc. from 1991 to 1994, where he set up the first OTC natural gas swap desk. In 1994, Cogen founded Natsource LLC, a greenhouse gas asset manager, where he served as CEO until 2014. Cogen's work at Natsource positioned him as a key figure in the carbon trading and carbon markets sector.
Key Business Strategies
A pivotal moment in Cogen's career was his appointment as Chair of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) from 2008 to 2011. This role highlighted his expertise in carbon finance and his commitment to promoting market-based mechanisms to address climate change. He also served as a non-employee director of Hudson Ridge Asset Management LLC, a natural gas hedge fund, from November 2013 to June 2018. Currently, Cogen is a director and early investor in CoreWeave, a cloud computing company that specializes in GPU compute resources. CoreWeave went public in 2025. He is also Principal at QZJXK LLC, focusing on early-stage investments across various industries.
Philanthropy
Cogen has served on the boards of various organizations, including Temple Shaaray Tefila of New York (former treasurer), the Gateway School of New York (former chair), the Energy Brokers Association (former treasurer), The Trevor Day School, and the Purnell School. He currently serves on the Oversight Committee of the United Jewish Appeal of New York.